Daimonic
by R.J. Sawyer Thomas
Summary: The day of reckoning may have come and gone, but the True Chaos has yet to begin. Everywhere, strange events begin to occur which may or may not be all Chloe's fault. Takes place a few years after the Reckoning. Sort of a sequel to my story Necromanced.
1. Chapter 1:Otherworldly

Chapter one:

**Author note**: This story takes place after the Reckoning. And after my first Darkest Powers Story Necromanced (which was my version of the Reckoning that I started before the third book came out and finished after its release). I will be using some of the same plot, characters and conflicts so it would be safe to assume that this is the sequel to Necromanced.

"I don't like this store. It smells to…perfume-y." I said trying not to breathe through my nose, which just made the back of my tongue feel weird. The store that I had been forcefully (Literally) been lead into was way to pink for my taste; I'm not against the whole girly girl look. It just wasn't my look.

"Oh stuff it. This is the only place within a hundred miles of here that has anything decent!" Tori snapped back at me. It was true. We were currently in the only mall within walking and driving distance. Needless to say, Tori was getting her shopping fix. "Anyway, you should try some of this perfume. Chloe. Maybe you would actually smell like a girl for once."

"No way. Look at the price tag on that bottle! And it doesn't matter, Derek hates this stuff. It messes with his nose to much…." I glared up at her. "Are you implying that I stink?"

She quickly looked away. "No not all. I mean if you like smelling like dirt and grass that's your opinion not mine." She picked up another bottle. "How about this one? It's on sale."

"No thank you." I snared at her.

"Ah. Don't say I never tried." She sighed. Then her eye was caught by a lacy pajama set on the rack that said in big bold letters across the chest: VICTORIA'S SECRET. "You still haven't got me anything for my birthday. Cough it up." She smiled a completely wicked smile that only Tori could do.

"I haven't gotten you anything for you birthday yet _because_ your birthday isn't for another month. Just because Kit gave in to your whining and bought you that new laptop early doesn't mean I'm going to." I laughed at the sudden change in her demeanor. I swear sometimes, it's like she's bipolar. She scrunched up her nose and went to the next rack. I shook my head mentally filing away the price so I'd be able to come back and buy the pj's for her surprise birthday party that everyone was planning in two weeks.

I guess I should introduce myself now. My name is Chloe Saunders. But here in Nowheres-vile Missouri I go by Chloe Blake. I am eighteen years old. My missing child posters back in New York proclaim a half a million dollar reward for anything that may lead to my safe return. Although the search hit a dead end when the news reporters discovered that the Lyle house where I had been admitted had completely disappeared from any written records. Along with the six teenagers admitted there for mental health issues. The truth was, we weren't insane, just different. Failed experiments of these wack-job scientists who wanted to correct the genetics of the remaining Supernatural's. It may sound like a noble cause but they went about it in completely the wrong way resulting in many deaths, including that of one my fellow Lyle House disappear-ies: Elizabeth Delany.

I am a Necromancer. Some people would just label it as physic or call me a Medium. But I'm much _much _worse than that. I have complete control over the dead. I can talk to ghost, yes. But I can also raise the dead from their graves. Not a very pleasant Superpower.

Tori, (short for Victoria) on the other hand is a Witch/Wizard hybrid. Whose powers are stronger than the most experience witch, but that also makes her and her powers unstable. The others in our merry band of misfits include: Simon Bae; an inexperienced wizard, Derek Souza; a moody werewolf, Kit Bae; an powerful wizard who is also Simon and Tori's biological father and Derek's adopted father, and then last but not least my Aunt Lauren; human and ex-evil scientist. Together we successfully escaped and destroyed the Edison group, the scientist who were ready to kill us just to cover up their own mistakes.

We have been on the run for a good three years now. And we've been everywhere. Moving from place to place whenever it feels like something supernatural is being stirred up. But Kit was determined to find a place that we would be able to finish up our senior year of high school without any more moving. And that place was here, in the miserably boring part of Missouri.

I guess I shouldn't be complaining. We only had three more months till graduation. And then….Well I wasn't quite sure what came after that. If I was _**normal**_I would be using this time to apply to college and daydream of a better future. But the problem was that I wasn't normal. And college…..college wouldn't fit into our life of running and hiding. Instead, I focused on the one thing that was solid in my life right now.

My new family.

We were all each other had. Outlaws. Runnaways. Freaks. One big happy family. And I was determined to keep us together. No matter what.

"Oh god it reeks in here." I heard a familiar curse come from above my head. I looked behind me and saw Derek who was plugging his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "How can you stand it in here?" He snapped. I smiled at him. He was rather moody lately, that just meant his body was demanding he change and he was ignoring the call. And by change I mean transform into a wolf and stretch his paws for a bit.

"Oh if it isn't Frankenstein." Tori snorted, you could tell she was in a good mood because she was reverting back to her old nicknames which were much harsher. "_Frankenstein_" referring to when Derek was going through puberty and Acne had been his worst enemy. Not that he looked anything like that now. No quite the opposite. He wasn't dashing or charming like all those heavily made up 28year old actors portraying teenagers on the tv dramas. No. He was very tall for his age, which was somewhat due to the fact he had the ability lift cars with his werewolf strength. His nose was a little big but his face wasn't odd. He had dark hair that he preferred to slightly cover his eyes which were an otherworldly green. Maybe that was what made him so attractive. There was an otherworldly aspect about him.

And did I mention that I was head over heels in love with him?

He growled faintly, I only heard it because I'm so use to it. It was his way of biting his tongue. Tori was his "sister" after all. He had to live with her, so to avoid conflict he normally just ignored Tori. "Excuse me for coming to pick you up." He mumbled finally, the keys to his beat up Buick in his hand. It had been a Christmas present from all of us to him last year. Me and Tori had walked here from school.

"Well we just got here so you're going to have to wait. Not all of us can run at the speed of light. It was a thirty minute walk here and I'm going to make that walk worth it." She growled back. "So why don't you leave us alone We know you can stand being in this store so just go. Do guy things, why don't you go to the hardware store and build something?"

He ignored her and put his hand on my waist. My stomach filled with butterflies. Astonishing that he still had an effect on me and we had been dating for about three or so years. I got on my tippy toes to try and peck him on the mouth which wasn't all that successful because he still had to lower his head so I didn't wind up kissing his chin. "I think I can suffer through the stench." He said looking at me, his eye's going soft.

Tori glared at him. Then her eyes sparkled. "Hey Chloe! Look, they have a sale on underwear and bra's! I think a few of those thongs are in your size. I'm not sure though, I'd bet they let you try some on for size if you asked."

"I'll be at the food court if you need me." Derek coughed and walked away without another word.

Tori erupted into laughter as Derek made his quick retreat. I glared at her.

"Was that completely necessary?"

"Believe me, it was." She said wiping away a stray tear. "He's a bit of a prude isn't he? I bet you an him can't eve-."

"Tori!" I snapped.

"Okay. Okay. Sorry. But I barely get to hang out with you anymore without him hovering around. Sometimes I just need a break; I mean I live in the same house as the guy. Brother or whatever I want to call him, he's annoying." Tori said going over to the underwear bin and picking out some in her size. I shook my head. I bet they did drive each other insane.

Even in the group of outcast. I was an outcast myself. If I didn't have Lauren then I would have no family connection left. I guess I would have Derek, but….like Tori said sometimes you needed a break to be with someone you can trust. Like a mother, a father or a sister. I wasn't sure what Tori thought of me as. There was a time when she completely despised me because Simon liked me and not her. Turns out she had nothing to worry about, Simon was off limits to her cause (she didn't know it at the time) but he was her half brother.

"Well hurry up in here will ya? I'm getting a headache from all these flowery fumes."

"Hold your horses, I've got to find a few thongs that will fit you. I'll give them to your boyfriend to give you so he doesn't have to feel embarrassed buying them himself. God knows how he hates to look foolish." She said evilly. I glared at her. Now she was just being mean.

I looked in the direction of the food court to see Derek sitting by himself with a plate full of food in front of him. I leaned on the entrance to the store to watch him. He was much better at social interaction then he use to be. Much more open, and less scary. Although he still could be very intimidating when he wanted to be. He didn't mind being alone, or at least he never complained about it.

My feelings for Derek had grown far before he had started molting the acne and puberty. Back when I first met him, it took me a while but I could see he was much more that what he seemed on the outside. Full of clashing emotions, and he was completely self-less, willing to do anything for his brother Simon. Even let Simon have the girl when all he wanted was to make a move.

Me and Simon would never have worked out. There was nothing wrong with him, no he was just as perfect as his brother. But Simon was use to getting the girl. And I…well I was like Derek. I avoided people and would let the guy get away.

Almost three years. Three years with him, and I was sure that I knew him better than even Simon did. But even with all that. I still could feel that he was hiding so much more from me. He still was reluctant or maybe just afraid to go any further. I wonder what was holding him back.

My thinking was interrupted, however, by a new arrival to Derek's small table. A girl from our high school, I couldn't remember her name exactly but I was sure it started with an _A_. Ashley? Amy? Something like that. She had long wavy blond hair and was wearing a shirt that was two sizes too small and showing off her obvious lack of undergarments.

My eyes narrowed. I wouldn't say I was the jealous type. But when she moved her hand from the table to his knee. I admit, evil thoughts crossed my mind. That bitch had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"Tori, meet at the movie store. I can't stand this smell." I said without looking back. I faintly heard her reply but it didn't matter. I was fixed on blondies hand. By the time I got to his table, Derek had moved his leg forcing her to move her hand back to the top of the table. "My god I couldn't stand another minute in that store." I said a little louder than necessary because Derek had heard me seconds before I was normal earshot. I guess I was just overacting for her sake.

I sat down in the last chair, moving it as close as possible to Derek. He smiled and instinctdly placed his right arm around my shoulder.

"And I can't get Tori to stop talking about Underwear. I swear she just loves being an Witch." I looked over at the blond. She smiled, welcomingly but it didn't extend to her eye's which were cold. "Oh hello, ummm Amm…?"

"Angie. Angela Wood."

"Oh yea, I have Caraculs with you." She nodded. "I'm sorry to interrupt, what were you guys talking about?" Her eyebrow's raised as I rested my head on Derek's shoulder. I'm nowhere near as intimidating as Derek. But three years on the run had made me tough and an amazing actress. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that I wasn't the shy, squeaky fifteen year old girl with blond hair anymore. My hair was longer than I had ever had it before, and it was dark as Derek's. It also probably had something to do with the glasses. They were fake but still, they strangely were an amazing confidence booster.

I glared at her through the fake lenses, and could tell she was sizing me up. Oh yea High school drama just what any_** normal**_ teen needs right? But then again, I wasn't normal.

"Movies. There was a trailer on tv over there for the new slasher flick." Derek mumbled the whole time paying no attention to our little stare down and continuing to eat his pizza.

"Oh! That one with the psycho escaping from the mental institution?" I said grabbing one of his fries off his plate. "Yea I heard the story is horrible but the cinematography is ground breaking."

"Yea I was just saying to Derek that a bunch of us are going to the midnight release. The more the merrier." She said smiling at Derek.

"Sounds fun." Derek said absentmindedly. "Interested?" He cocked his head towards me.

"Hmm…I'm sure Simon and Tori would love to go too."

"Great. See you there." She said to Derek, not me, and stood up.

"So I see, that's how it is!" We all looked behind us to see an angry Tori glaring at me. "Can't stand to hang out with me for barely ten minutes without running off to your boyfriend." Her eye's went to Angie who was now giving her the evil eye. "Oh." Tori laughed. "Oh I see how it is." Angie glared at her for a bit more and then turned and walked away. Tori patted me on the head. "Hurry up lets go get your cd's so we can go home. Let's go Gruesome." She said slapping Derek on the back of his head.

I went to stand up but Derek grabbed my arm. "Wait."

His face was glued to the tv, that he had no problem hearing from this far away. Me and Tori looked from him to the tv and back again. Tori's face became serious. She had learned when it was time to be quite around Derek when his face was locked like that. Like a wolf stalking it's pray. Soundlessly we moved closer so as to let our mortal ears catch the conversation on the news.

"_Breaking news from the Midwest. Major un-forewarned power outages leave towns shocked and in distress. Hundreds injured and dozen left dead after strange electromagnetic waves caused sizeable earthquakes leaving scientist and experts baffled. They are saying that there is no way to chart these occurrences because any attempt has failed with the scientific equipment refusing to work near any of the recent hot spots. Authorities are urging everyone near any resent hotspot to take immediate safety percussions for the next few days as the matter is resolved…._

I looked at Derek who had closed his eyes, thinking.

"Whatever it is. It doesn't sound good." Tori said all manner of sarcasm completely absent in her voice.

"No." Derek said. "No not at all." Derek growled.

"Better cut this trip short, then. According to that map were pretty close to one of the last earthquakes." Tori sighed grabbing my arm and tugging me towards the parking lot. Derek rubbed his neck trying to push out the built up tension. He grabbed my hand and lead the way towards the car. "At least this trip wasn't completely useless. Here ya go Big Bro." She handed him a fancy little gift bag. "A gift just for you!" Derek growled at her but took the bag when she nearly hit him over the head with it.

I smiled faintly. Secretly praying that whatever was happening was over soon. As we passed one of the stores I caught glimpse of a familiar red head. Jade. A girl from school that had made it her duty to make me feel included. She was nice. A little to forward but all and all, I liked her as friend. She saw me instantly and waved. I waved back before being pulled away with Derek and Tori.

Chloe must have been in a quite a rush not to stop and say hi. Jade thought as she watch the trio move towards the parking lot. It didn't matter much. She'd see her tomorrow at homeroom anyway.

"Do you know that girl?"

Jade looked over her shoulder to see her grandmother standing a little too close. It's not that she didn't like her she was just too much a stranger to her. And the fact that she look far too young to be her grandmother. The lady had some work done to her face, which was an obvious fact.

"Yea, Chloe Blake. She real nice. Why do you care?" Jade said folding her arms. Her grandma had shown up out of the blue just hours ago demanding they share some girl time together and suggested shopping. The last time she had seen her was at her thirteenth birthday party, in which the whole time all she did was ask her annoying questions that had made no sense at all.

Then her grandmother smiled. Jade felt uneasy, instinct was telling her to back away but she didn't out of pure politeness. "Well well well. I guess this trip was worth it after all."

"What?" Jade glared at her confused. But her grandmother didn't take any notice. She had her phone out and was dialing faster than even jade could.

"Hey, John. It's me. I found her…..yup two others were with her a tall boy and dark haired girl. I'm sure it's her. Trust me….yup We'll be on the next flight out of here." She shut the phone with a loud snap. "Now deary," She looked over at her Granddaughter her eyes filled with excitement. "Could you be a sweetheart and take me to miss Chloe's house?"

Jade starred at her for a long time before wetting her lips to talk. "And why do you need to go there?"

"Oh let's just say that I've got a preposition for her and her little friends."

Jade felt uneasy with everything. Her grandmother, her interest in Chloe Blake, and more importantly the way her grandma's face literally didn't move with her wickedly…somehow otherworldly smile.

_**Hello there, real quick-**____**I Do not Own Darkest Powers. If you haven't read the series yet I suggest you do cause they are awesome. **_

_**I've been debating long and hard on what to write. You see im in art student and my assignments take up a lot of my time. But writing somehow helps me relax so that's why I wrote my first fanfic in the first place. I thought of different series and tried to start a few but for some reason I cant get out of a darkest powers mood. I think it's because I relate a lot with Chloe and her personality. So I'm starting this sort of kind of sequel to see what the reception is on it. I just enjoy writing stories I think about werewolves and I felt that my first fanfic didn't have enough action in it and this one might give me the opportunity to do that.**_

_**Anywho real quick the title "Daimonic"**_. _**I thought long and hard for a title and when that didn't work I went to Wikipedia till I found something that fit. The description for Diamonic Wikipedia is this:**_

The idea of the **daimonic** typically means quite a few things: from befitting a demon and fiendish, to motivated by a spiritual force or genius and inspired. As a psychological term, it has come to represent an elemental force which contains an irrepresible drive towards individuation. As a literary term, it can also mean the dynamic unrest that exists in us all that forces us into the unknown, leading to self-destruction and/or self-discovery.

_**So just in case you were wondering why the heck I choose that title.**_

_**Review if you like. I'm curious to see if anyone still enjoys my rambling. Thanks for reading.**_


	2. Chapter 2: The SCC

Chapter two:

_**DEREKS P.O.V**_

There was no traffic on the isolated back country roads. Nothing but grass and trees, and open space. Nothing, well maybe a cow or two. And I liked it that way. Lots of room to run around, clean air and complete freedom. The others might complain that there was nothing ever to do or go, but not me.

Tori was stretched out in the backseat, earphones in her ears blasting her horrible music. She didn't like my taste in the radio station, but like I had stated early on: My car, my rules. All she did was complain, but that's what Tori does. If she isn't pointing out how horrible her life is then she whining about some other teenage drama. Her and Simon definitely were blood related. He wasn't as annoying but the lack of anything in this town bugged the hell out of him.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Chloe bobbing her head to the newest song on the radio. Of course she never complained. She noticed me watching her and smiled. Her gorgeous blue eyes shining in the bright sunlight. Damn, I loved this place.

"You feeling okay?" She asked her head titling a bit.

"M'fine." I said returning my gaze back to the road.

"Derek." She growled. That made me smile. She was picking up my bad habits of scowling. It was like watching a rabbit take on a fox. Although, she could get rather scary when she was angry, and that's from firsthand experience. "Seriously, why are you all set on fighting the change all of a sudden? You'll feel better once you get it over with."

I shook my head. Of course she knew. I hadn't been fighting the change per-say….more like testing my limits. And she had noticed, she probably keep a very close attention to every odd twitchy movement I had been doing lately.

"Why go through weeks of pain and discomfort, when barely one hour on four legs and a tail would give you enough of a fix for a good month?" She said reaching over and patting my leg.

I ignored her question. Not because I was trying to be rude but because the current location of her hand had me remembering the events from only a few minutes ago. The dumb blond who had tried to get me interested in her little group outing. I knew what she had wanted, because I knew what kind of girl she was. Self-centered and self-destructive. Angela Wood had daddy issues, the whole senior class knew that. She was a year older than everyone because she was held back her junior year, making her the same age as me. I had volunteered to stay behind one year so that I could take extra credit and more advantaced courses. And also so that I would be able to graduate at the same time as Simon, Chloe and Tori.

Angela Wood likes older men. She liked to make her father angry. Any guy that he might dislike she went after. Apparently I fit the bill. Tall, dark, and intimidating. She had no idea how completely right she was. I was dangerous. But for now I was in control.

I grabbed Chloe's hand and laced my fingers together with hers. "You're funny when you're jealous, you know that." She scrunched up her face. "Your voice changes, almost like your trying to deepen your tone to make up for the lack of height."

"I'm trying to imitate how you do it. How you make people cower in fear when you're angry." She whispered. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to get jealous."

There she goes again. No matter how much she had grown up the three years they had known each other, every now and then she reverted back to her old ways. However, she had almost defeated her stutter. Except for those rare moments when she was at a loss for words.

"Don't worry, she crossed the line." Derek said rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. She looked over at me before letting out a deep breath.

"Sooooo. Do you talk to her often?" She said titling her head so that she was peering over the rim of her glasses. I held back a laugh.

"I thought you were sorry for being so jealous?"

"I did. But I'm not sorry for being curious." She hummed. "She's bad news."

"Believe me Chloe." I chuckled reaching over and pulling her close. "You've got nothing to worry about." I kissed the top of her head.

"I know. I trust you." She mumbled burying her face in my shoulder. "I just don't trust her." With more vinegar then I'm use to hearing from her.

Just then I turned into the driveway that lead to the two isolated old farm houses that we had chanced upon when moving here. They were the perfect getaway and hideout for us.

As we drove up I could see Simon was sitting outside on the steps, bouncing a basket ball up and down. If Chloe thought I was moody lately, I wondered what she thought of Simon. He was far too quiet and removed lately. Every time I asked what the problem was he would just say that he felt sick. But I knew something else was bothering him….

He looked up when my car door slammed shut. His face empty. And for Simon that was frightening. Tori bounced out of the car and flew past Simon without a second glance.

"I'll be over in a minute, I have to go see how Lauren is doing." Chloe said coming to my side, she squeezed my hand gave Simon a heartfelt concerned look and then trotted up to the smaller of the two houses. The one thing Lauren had demanded when we had started this runaway venture was separate houses. I watched her go making sure she didn't do anything stupid like trip, in the short distance between me and the house. Once she was inside my focus turned back to Simon.

He was looking at me too. And there was something in his eyes that I had never seen before from him. Hatred.

I rubbed my neck, trying to release my sudden constriction on my muscles from self-preservation that came with being a werewolf. Why it was happening now, just because Simon was looking at me….had me worried.

"Yo." I grumbled sitting next to him on the porch steps. He nodded, and the fierceness in his eyes dissolved in an instant. Almost like it was never there to begin with.

"Something wrong with your neck?" He mumbled pointing to the fact that I was still trying to release the tension built up there.

"Not sure. Maybe I should have Lauren take a crack at it." I said watching him closely.

"That'd be smart." He said looking away and off into the distance. The conversation apparently over for him.

"Simon, what's wrong with you?" I said in the most concerned voice I could. I probably had asked him the same question fifty times this week. And just like always he answered:

"I feel Sick." He said.

"The Doctor said nothing was wrong with you." I said pointing out his appointment two days ago. All the Doc had prescribed was more Vitamin C and exercise.

"Doesn't change the fact that I feel like crap." He mumbled back. I watched him concerned but unwilling to probe him anymore. If he wanted my help he would have asked for it by now. Whatever was eating him up inside, he must want to keep me out of it. I heard slow footsteps come up behind me. It was Dad.

I leaned back in order to see his face. It too was focused on Simon. Worry, and concern wrinkled his face. He looked at me for some answers, but all I could give him was the _he won't tell me anything _look. Dad shook his head and focused instead on Chloe and Lauren who were making their way over to us.

"I know it's my turn to cook and all-." Lauren started as she came within earshot, but was interrupted by Tori's reappearance.

"Please! Oh please tell me you're not going to try and make that pot roast again!" Tori complained her face turning yellow from the memory of Lauren's last attempt at experimenting with the cooking channel. My stomach turned with the memory of it as well. Even though I will eat anything….I'd personally would rather never eat that monstrosity again.

"Let me finish Victoria." Lauren snapped back. "I know it's my turn to cook, but I think we could all use a treat so I was wondering if everyone was up to some delivery pizza?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Dad said with a sigh of relief.

"Brillant! Can I drive!" Tori shouted bouncing on her feet and looking at me like she was expecting something. I shook my head.

"Not in my car you're not. Not a chance in hell." I growled getting off the porch and walking over to stand by Chloe. Tori turned on dad putting on the charm and begging for the Van's keys. But my attention was caught not by Dad's attempt to say no, but by the sound of crunching gravel coming from the driveway.

_**CHLOE'S P.O.V**_

I felt the sudden stillness in Derek even though he was a foot away from me. I followed his gaze to the fancy Mercedes that was slowly making its way down our dirt driveway. Seconds later everyone's head had snapped in the same direction.

I reached for Derek's arm. Not because I was scared, no. There was nothing yet to be afraid of. I touched his arm to judge how worried he was by how stiff his muscles were. My heartbeat started to quicken when I felt how tense he was. He was ready to pounce.

This couldn't be good.

The car stopped a fair distance away. And to my shock, Jade got out of the passengers side.

"Oh. H-Hello Jade…." I said trying to figure why on the earth Jade's presence would wind Derek up so.

"Hi Chloe!" She smiled, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. I could tell that something was wrong. "Derek, Simon Tori." She waved to each of them in turn.

"What do you want, Red?" Tori said her normal snarky tone back.

"Um well, funny story but my Grandmother she…" Jade rubbed her forehead before turning to the look at the woman now getting out of driver side door.

And all once I realized why Derek was worried. The woman who got out of the car looked like she had just stepped off a movie set. Her face was that of an older woman but an old woman who had feared the lines of age and now looked like a voodoo version of a plastic Barbie. But the moment she stepped out of the car. I felt it. The very faint buzz I had grown accustomed to when something magic or supernatural was around.

"You see my Grandmother wanted me to introduce you…" Jade continued suddenly noticing the sudden panic in my eyes. Jade came a little closer but Derek pushed me behind him which shocked her more. I pulled away from Derek's grip and slightly edged out from behind him. I didn't need to be treated like the week link. It was just instinct for Derek to put himself in the line of fire. But it wasn't jade we needed to worry about it was her Grandmother.

I felt Kit come up next to me his face full of serious precaution. "Can we help you with Something?"

"Hello their Kit!" The woman smiled slamming the door and rubbing out a wrinkle on her dress. I looked over at Kit who looked just a worried that she knew his name. "My my I haven't seen you since you were a boy."

"Do I know you?" Kit asked.

"Ah I'm sure you don't remember, you were nothing more than a little kid last time like I said." She laughed a fake laugh that sent chills don't my spine. Her eye's then focused on me. And Derek growled. "You don't know how long I've been looking for you Chloe Saunders."

All of a sudden everyone was crowded around each other. Ready to fight our way through this new enemy.

"Oh no need for violence. I'm not who you think I am." She waved away our sudden movements like we were mere children acting up. Jade's face on the other hand had gone white. She was looking from her Grandmother to us who looked like we were ready to start shooting.

"What's going on here?" Jade said taking a step away from her grandma apparently more afraid of her then she was of us.

"Don't worry child. I haven't explained myself yet." Her grandma sighed.

"Who are you then?" I shouted stepping forward. "Are you an Edison wack-job? Need I remind you what we did to you losers last time?"

"Oh you are very confident aren't you my girl?" She said very impressed, her eyes were glowing with triumph. "My name is Myrtle Husht. And No I am not a part of the failed Edison group. No I am a part of something much much grander." She smiled flipping her bangs away from her face. "I am a part of a secret branch, the Supernatural Community Council. We are the ones the Edison group was hiding from." She glared at Kit who looked taken aback. "You know what I'm talking about don't you Kit?"

"The SCC?" He mumbled. "You've got to be kidding me." Kit glared at her.

"What's this about?" Tori said looking up at Kit.

"The SCC is the self appointed law enforcement for the magical community." He wet his lips trying to get the right words to come out. "They were the ones who drove The Edison Group to the point of all those blasted experiments. So what now? Are you here to clean up your mistakes as well?"

"No no No." Myrtle raised her finger. I'm here for three reasons. "One, to congratulate you on the mess you made, and two to award you for cleaning up after yourselves. The Edison group were growing far too strong, we couldn't risk losing to them. Our only hope as to destroy it was from the inside. But the Edison Group had a very bad habit of killing any who they felt were un loyal to their cause. Without your sacrifices they may have very well succeeded in their horrid plans."

"Dad, if these guys are the…"He struggled to find the right words "…. _magical cops_ why didn't we go to them when we were on the run? Why didn't we demand their protection?" Simon asked from behind Kit.

"Because, youngster." Myrtle said raising her voice. "Your dad was a part of the Edison group and in our eyes he still is responsible for many of the experiments that took place there." Simon looked from his father to his brother who face was still focused on the threat before him. Ready to attack the moment she made her first move.

This was getting out of hand. My grip on Derek tightened. Now there was an even bigger corporation we had to run away from? How the heck were we going to get out of this one alive? Why did this have to be happening? Why couldn't we just have graduated and gone on with our lives. Why?

"So what?" Tori said her voice raising her eyebrows arched. "You think you're just going to step in and Lock us away? Well I like to see you try." Her finger tips started to spark blue lightning. Jade yelped with shock as the sparks singed her skirt. Jade looked like she was about to faint. I wanted to give her an reassuring smile, but when she looked at me all I could do was glare at her. Even though she hadn't meant to do it. She had brought this on to us. She recoiled from my stare. I blinked trying to wipe the anger out of my eyes. Instead I focused on Tori.

Simon was moving closer to Tori ready to slap some sense into her if she dared do anything stupid. For a second I swear I saw Simon's eyes cloud over, emotionless as he looked at Tori. But it was gone the second I looked back, replaced with unease.

"No, Victoria. Like I said I'm here to reward you. Not convict you." Myrtle shook her head.

Tori's shoulders slumped a bit caught off guard. "And you expect us to believe you? Ha!"

"Victoria, hush." Lauren said pushing her away from the front. "Myrtle Elaine Husht. I've heard of you, there were files on you back at the Edison group." We all looked at her shocked. "I was forced to work for those monsters, and they gave me all the research material I asked for. I looked up the SCC hoping that I might be able to contact them to help us….but I was advised against that. Because I feared they would hold me accountable."

"I bet they had a whole cabinet on me I'm sure." Myrtle hummed looking at her bright finger nails. "But that doesn't matter. It's taken me three years but I've finally found you. The last survivors of the Edison groups failed experiments; Like I said I'm here to offer protection not conviction." She smiled. "You are all heros. Tragic hero's that overcame every obstacle they threw at you. And then, to avoid every attempt on our part to find you these past years was remarkable feat in the least. We could use your skills in bettering our world the natural way. No experiments. No strings attached. Just justice."

"Lauren?" Kit looked over at her. Lauren nodded.

"She's one of SCC for sure. She's not lying. Otherwise she would've killed us by now." A strange expression crossed her face and she looked at me before looking back at The SCC member. "You said you were here for three reasons? What's the last one?"

Myrtle Husht smiled another one of her wicked smiles. "That's the most important one, I am here…" Her eyes shifted back to mine. "For Chloe Saunders."

My eye's grew wide, but I stood my ground. Even when I felt Derek nudge a bit closer to me I nudged him back. "For what exactly?"

She laughed and with all seriousness said in a very threatening tone. "For releasing Hell on earth, of course."

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**_

_**Introduced a new character. Bad guy or good guy? I think people can be both :3**_

_**In my last fanfic I didn't do much with Simon. I hope to evolve his character much much more in this one. **_

_**Review please! I like feedback it helps me decide how to write the next chapter or if Im going in the wrong direction. Please and Thank you.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Secrets

Chapter three:

"Well dosen't this feel like the Fucking kids table!" Tori cursed kicking a rock across the yard attempting to hit the house.

Me, Tori, Derek, Simon and Jade had been asked rather nicely to stay outside while the three "grown-ups" Go inside and discuss the next move. And here we were like good little children. Tori's anger was completely justified.

"I mean I'm almost 19years old!" Tori continued. "Don't I get a chance to voice my opinion?"

"I believe you are doing just that." Derek scowled, scratching his arm. She shot a crude hand gesture in his direction before returning to her stomping. I wrapped my arms tighter around my knees, my eyes focusing on Jade who was sitting a bit away from our little group her eyes wide.

I sighed getting up from my place next to Simon to going over to her. She looked at me wary of what I wanted. Fear in her eyes….she really thought I was dangerous. I slowly sat down next to her. "I'm sorry I glared you. I was angry. You have to understand that after three years of being on the run every time my life is about to uprooted again I get a little pissed."

She starred at me. "So it's true then? You're Chloe Saunders, the kidnapped New York girl from all the wanted posters?"

"Yea, were all that's left of the Lyle house missing teens." I said gesturing to the other three. Simon was looking at Tori and Derek had his eyes shut laying flat on the ground. I knew they were both listening.

"Wow." She whispered. Her eye's drifting over everyone in turn.

"Yea." I mumbled looking towards the house wondering what they could be talking about inside. Everything about this made me queasy. The SCC just sounded like another, more powerful, Edison group. Damn! I was kind of hoping that after the source of their power, their original lab facility was destroyed that all we would have to deal with was rouge ex employee every now and then. And so far that had held fast for three years. Until of course now.

Why hadn't Kit of Lauren warned us about them? We were technically adults now, and we deserved to be told the truth. The more I thought about it the more I realized that this family that I was so desperate to keep together could never last forever. What did they think was going to happen if we decided to leave and start our own lives? I mean each one of us were skilled liars, we knew how to avoid capture, and we knew how to control our powers. Didn't we deserve to know everything that could help us once that day came?

I looked over at Tori her ranting tuned out. Did Kit really think she was going to keep this up forever? Tori would want to get out and experience life, she would want to go to college, have independence. She wouldn't care about the threat that the world had on us.

Did Kit really expect any of us to continue with this run, settle, and run life style into our thirties and beyond? I looked over at Derek. He was brilliant, too smart for his own good. He could get into any college in the country if he tried. He had potential that would be wasted on the run like this. And then there was the wolf pack back in New York that wanted him.

Was he going to leave?

"So then everything else Gran said….About witches and wizards. It's all true?" She said her voice shaking and interrupting my inner rambling.

"Witches and Wizards aren't the half of it." I laughed. She looked at me taken aback. I cleared my throat. "I mean to say, there's more than witches and wizards out there."

"What are you then? A Witch?"

I shook my head and raised one finger. "Number one rule of surviving on the run Jade…don't trust anybody with your darkest secret." She looked disappointed so I smiled at her. "No offense. But we've all been stabbed in the back one too many times to trust anyone other than _this_ family. "

Simon nodded interrupting. "D. What are they saying? Can you hear them?"

Derek's face crunched up in concentration. "No. Dads cast some kind of spell, as long as they keep whispering supersonic hearing isn't going to work." 

"Do you have any idea what the big bad Husht is? I want to know what were up against in case we need to make a run for it." Tori snapped looking from Jade to Derek. Jade shook her head quickly, it was obvious to everyone here that she knew less than we did. So Tori looked at Derek, demanding and expecting an answer.

"How am I supposed to know?" Derek growled his eyes growing fierce.

"I don't know! Can't you use your dog nose to tell what she is or something?" Tori barked back.

"No it doesn't work like that!" Derek cursed sitting up in a quick motion and glaring at Tori. I saw fear flash in her eyes for half a second before snapping back to her normal angry self. "'Scents' don't work that way. I can tell you where she's been the last two hours or what kind of perfume she's wearing or if she angry, happy or whatever but NO I cannot tell _**what**_she is, Queen Victoria." Quickly reacting, I stood up and got between the two. Derek was on a short temper because of his need to change. And Tori was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry. The two didn't mix well.

"That's enough. Both of you." I glared at Tori waiting for her to back off. Finally after a minute of me starring her down she looked away. The one thing I was proud that Derek had taught me was how to stare down a person. Make them uncomfortable.

"Geezus, I can't take this anymore. All I was asking was a simple question." Tori said walking a few feet away from Derek.

"Yea well maybe you shouldn't keep expecting me to know goddamn everything!" Derek growled. I rounded on him.

"Stop."

He glared at me, his emerald green eyes fierce and animalistic. He was on the edge making him a danger to everyone here, even himself. I looked over at Jade who was watching the exchange with wide worried eyes. I needed to get him out of here. But I was pretty sure we needed to wait till this matter with Myrtle was settled. Finally I had to look away. There was no dealing with him right now. Something was upsetting him. Something had triggered the wolf and fueled his temper.

Simon looked up at me and caught my eye. He jerked his head towards the old forgotten shed, it was far enough away that we would be out of ear shot but close enough to see them sitting here. I nodded. "I need to talk to you." I said looking Derek square in the face. He grumbled but got on his feet quick enough. "We'll be right back." Tori made some impolite retort but it was lost as I trotted towards the shed. Derek following slowly behind me.

"Why haven't you been changing?" I demanded. He stuck out his jaw, signaling to me that he was standing his ground and then looked off towards the woods. "You wouldn't be on edge like this if you had just gone for a run once in awhile." I looked over to see Tori had taken Derek's place next to Simon. "We all have to take some stupid percussion, you know, to make this work. My stupid meditating, Tori's anger issues, and _you're_ changing. I know this is a bad situation were in here, but don't take it out on Tori. She's always a bitch, it's not like that's going to change."

He grumbled a response but I didn't have super hearing there was no way I was going to hear it.

"Derek you can tell me anything." I said softly, I reached over and touched his arm gently; his skin was hot to the touch which was a bad sign. "No matter how stupid or embarrassing." I added.

He looked up at me and sighed. I don't know if he was admitting defeat or what. "Just because I can change whenever I want now…..it doesn't mean….I don't like embracing the idea of it okay?" He frowned when he saw that I didn't buy it one bit. "Okay put it this way. The more I change into…the _wolf_ the more I have to deal with its thoughts. And personally I don't like having a second voice in my head."

I blinked taken aback. I had no idea that's what happened to werewolves. "A voice? You mean the wolf talks to you?" He nodded. Raising his eyebrow as if telling me 'yea _thanks for confirming how much a freak I am.' _I ignored him. "And why haven't you told me about this before?" We were so close. Or at least I thought we were. But the nagging thought that he still was hiding things from me, now being confirmed, upset me.

"Because it's weird. That's why." He scratched his arm again; the skin was starting to get raw. "The less I change the less it talks. It's not like I have anyone I can exactly go to and ask on the mechanics of all this. I pretty much have to deal with it the way I see fit, and I've got it pretty much under control. I mean every now and then it has its two cents about what's going on but if I avoid changing for long periods then I don't have to worry about the wolf bothering me so much, okay?"

No it wasn't okay. He should've calmed down by now. Normally when we were alone together his anger was easily controllable but something was still weighing on the back of his mind making it too hard to let go. He starred at me, and I stared back at him crossing my arms. I could tell he was trying to find words to ask me something. So I tried to keep him talking. Maybe that would calm him somehow.

"What does the wolf say?" I asked, curiosity was a horrible incentive. He looked at me and frowned. Rolling his shoulder I could tell he was trying to make an effort.

"Nothing much. Just points out how I should be acting…Says I play the part of a lap dog for humans to well…..It talks about you a lot…." He mumbled the last part, but unfortunately for him, I caught it.

"Me? What does it have to say about me?"

"Nothing. Forget about it." Derek growled changing the subject as fast as he could, "About this," he said waving his hand towards the house. "What….." His face scrunched up again. Even though I knew he was in distress I couldn't help it. He was too darn adorable.

"Spit it out Derek." I laughed shaking my head.

His eyebrows narrowed. "What did Husht mean when she said she was here for you?"

"What?" I said confused. All the laughter draining from my face. I had been dreading this question.

"'For releasing hell on earth' that's what she said. Do you have any idea what she meant?"

I felt the anger in his voice and it was becoming clear why he was getting so worked up. The woman, even though she hadn't directly come out and said it, had threatened to take me away. Derek was overly protective of me and there was no way he was going to let that happen. "Derek I'm not going anywhere. Okay?" I said putting on the most charming smile I could.

"That doesn't answer my question." He snorted back. I stared at him.

The truth was, I didn't want to answer his question. Cause yes I knew exactly what she had meant. But there was no way I was going to admit to Derek that I had released a Demon from its cage. I was determined to let that go to my grave. I don't know the percussions that come with making a deal with a demon, but everything that I had learned from Hollywood told me it was a very bad. I didn't have a choice. I saw an opportunity to take down the Edison group and save my friends lives. At the moment, it was the only option. So I took it.

Years later, I knew that it hadn't been one of my greatest decisions. I knew that Derek wouldn't approve. He'd be angry. I didn't like to get him upset. And this was my problem. My burden. When the day came that I had to answer for my decision I was planning on keeping him safe. And taking the fall without dragging him down with me.

I had been praying that day would be sometime in the distant future so that I still had time to be with him and everyone else. But…I guess nothing ever works out the way I want it to. I guess we _both_ were still keeping secrets from each other.

Quickly without missing a beat I turned on my best poker face. "No clue. Maybe she thinks my powers are out of control. I'm a danger to society."

He growled at me. "Chloe."

I blinked up at him, trying to act confused. It would be much easier to seem more innocent with my original blonde hair. "What? I don't know okay!" This conversation wasn't calming him down. If anything it was getting us both worked up.

"Chloe." He said in a deeper voice.

I flinched which gave away my lie immediately. My eyes fell to the ground. Damnit.

"Chloe." I heard him whisper softly. He had moved closer to me and was now cupping the back of my head with his hand. "You can tell me anything. I promise I won't get mad." He whispered in my ear. His breath hot on my skin. Me and him knew how to make each other 'weak at the knees' if you know what I mean. All in all, I had created a monster.

"No fair." I said reaching up to pull his hand away. I could feel the tension in his muscles; He was just trying to coax an answer out of me. "I didn't use any dirty tricks to get you to talk."

"Yes but I was honest, and I told you what you wanted to know. You are the one being Difficult." He growled. I tried to tug his hand away but he held fast. "Please tell me." He tried one more time. 

I looked up into his bright green eyes. Three years, and they still amazed me. Like the old saying goes, the eyes are the window to the soul. And through them I could see how intense, protective, loyal and predator-like he was. And I admit I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to protect me. But more than anything. I wanted to protect _**him**_. I shook my head. "Derek…for now let's just assume that I don't know what she meant. Please. I….I'm not a ready okay?"

He didn't say anything. Just continued to stare into my eyes. After a few minutes he sighed and reached up with his free hand to take my fake glasses off.

"Sometimes….you're as annoying as Tori." He mumbled, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"That's in insult if I've ever heard one." I said taking the glasses from him.

"I'll stop when you start telling me the truth." He said looking back at me, "how do you expect me to protect you when you won't tell me what I need to know?" I was use to him being overly protective when the situation around us got tight; I guess it comes with having a Werewolf boyfriend.

"I'm big girl. I don't need you to protect me from everything."I mumbled. The words were harsh, but they were true.

Hurt crossed his face but vanished quickly. He nodded before taking a step back and walking back towards the others. I stared at him go. He seemed to be much calmer now. But he was upset. I had avoided telling him the truth and he knew it. And he was going to pout about till I told him.

I guess I would just have to find the right words so that I didn't upset him even more.

Great.

…..

_**SIMON's P.O.V**_

I watched them talking trying to tune out Tori's complaining. Sometimes I wish I had super hearing like Derek. Anything to block out her obsessive whining. I looked over at the new girl, Jade. She was watching me and Tori trying to blend into the background. When she noticed that I was staring at her, her attention quickly moved to Chloe and Derek in the distance.

"Don't worry," I mumbled. She looked over at me again. "It's all weird at first but I'm sure within a week none of this will affect you at all." She smiled welcoming my attempt to calm her. But I didn't care if she was calm or not. She was a liability that needed to be dealt with. "You understand," I said a little bit fiercer than I mean to, "that if you breathe a word about any of this to anyone. You'll have much more than wizards and witches to deal with?"

Her face paled in an instant. I starred her down, and then felt a sharp pain in the back of my head as something hard collided with it.

"Damn Simon!" Tori cursed. "When did you become such an ass-whole?" She growled at me while I rubbed the sore part of my head. "The girl isn't going to tell anyone. Do you think anyone sane would even believe her? What has been up with you lately?"

I took a deep breath wanting to say some very nasty curses back at her, but I caught myself. There I went again. I closed my eyes and sure enough I felt the fuzzy, hazy pressure on forefront of my head. I rubbed my forehead trying to massage the mass of pressure. But all that did was create a knot, and the worst headaches ever. "Nothing. It was nothing I'm sorry Jade." Taking another deep breath I looked up and saw Tori was still glaring at me.

"Is this some sort of male PMS? Seriously. What happened to the annoyingly happy, cocky Simon that we all loved and hated?"

My eyebrows rose. "It's nothing Tori. I….I just feel sick."

"Bullshit." She snapped. "Don't think just because I'm not _obviously _concerned like little miss Sunshine and Gruesome over there, that I don't pay attention. One minute you're smiling, the next your stare could choke kittens. Is this some sort of Supernatural Depression faze your going through? Because it needs to stop."

I stared back at her. I no idea she cared that much. But she was right, maybe I was just depressed. The Knot in my forehead twitched. Why was I so angry? I had been trying to decide that for weeks now. But deep down, I was sure that it had nothing to with a normal teenage angst…..The thing is. Deep down I'm a coward. And I was terrified to tell anyone what I was almost certain it was. I didn't want them to worry; they all ready had so much on the plates as it was.

What this was. It was my problem. And I was going to find a way to fight it. So I mentally pushed the knot away and focused on other things. Like praying that whatever this Husht lady was bringing down on us, we'd be able to escape unharmed. I needed to focus on my family. I ushered up an image to the forefront of my mind. It was the picture of the four us that was on the mantle in the living room. Taken about a month ago at the school dance, all four of us crowded around one little table. We all looked happy and almost normal. Even Derek was smiling, which was a more common occurrence nowadays but it still was something.

That calmed me down. My head felt a little clearer. I looked up at Tori, who was still giving me the classic death glare. "Sorry, I'll try and cheer up." I smiled, which was another achievement. I could tell she still wasn't convinced, but she took it for what it was.

Derek was walking back. He had calmed down too, but there was something else that had replaced it. I watched as Chloe slowly followed behind him, her head down. Whatever she had done to cool him down obviously had backfired on her. Derek's head snapped towards the house as the front door creaked open. The Husht woman walked out first with surprising pep that an older woman shouldn't have, dad and Lauren followed behind her.

As Husht came closer I saw Derek move in-between Chloe and her. The woman stopped, watching Derek with narrowed eyes. She took a hesitant step closer and he growled. A wide demented smile spread across her face. "Very well, boy." She whispered taking a few steps back and changing her course for her car. "Come on Jade." She shouted. Jade looked hesitant before chasing after her grandma.

I looked over at dad expecting him to announce that they were moving. But he was looking at Chloe, his face full of concern. She looked away not able to meet his gaze. The silence was becoming unbearable as we waited for the sounds of the Husht's Mercedes to fade off down the road.

I cleared my throat. "So what's the plan?"

…..

_**Do not own darkest powers!**_

_**Thanks for reading! Review!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Girl Talk

…

The Lunch room was as noisy as ever, a big blur of nonsense as everyone talked all at once. It was Friday and everyone was ready for the weekend even the teachers. The school didn't have a big cafeteria forcing the board to split lunch into two periods. Me, Derek and Simon were together in the second period and Tori was all alone in first. I never heard her complain though because her football quarter-back "_boy-toy_" was in first period as well, and from what I heard they keep each other occupied.

I looked around at the crowded room, and for the first time in a long time, I felt anxious. I was in one of my movies, again, as the heroine who's so far has eluded capture from her arch enemies. And now is facing the fact that her secret was out and it was a matter of time till the men in white coats were banging down the door. To me, everyone looked suspicious. It was almost like I was expecting this facade to come crashing down and suffocate us at any moment.

Everything was making me uneasy, the metal trays clanking on the tables, the stomping feet of the other students and the roar from all the talking. For the first time in a LONG time, I felt like I was going insane.

Simon sitting next to me noticed that I hadn't touched my food. "You look like you're going to faint." He mumbled, picking apart his sandwich. "Stop worrying." We were sitting at a different table today. Trying to avoid Jade who was three tables away and who kept peeking over her shoulder at us. Derek's plate clanked onto the table and we both looked up. He had stayed late in his last class because his teacher and him had gotten into a heated debate over his paper.

"How'd it go?" Simon asked.

"He gave me the 100." He said already started on his food. I wasn't really sure why he had asked his teacher to reconsider the grade, I mean he had a 97. "He didn't like my choice in topic." He went on answering my unasked question. He was good at guessing that. "I wrote about the science behind cloning, and other illegal sciences banned in the United States. I could have written a better one, but Dad says I need to down play the intellect. I start turning in college grade essays and I'll start to get noticed. And notoriety, as we all know, is bad."

"Well, I'm guessing you left out one big bad illegal science experiment." Simon said his eyes sparkling. "I can just picture how your thesis would have gone." He cleared his throat. "_Animal testing takes on new meaning as the evil scientists try to crack the genetic code that causes teens to sprout fur and howl at the full moon." _He elbowed Derek trying to get a laugh out of him. Derek looked amused, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. I knew why. Simon was acting like his old self again. The mood swings had Derek on edge, he was worried. Hell, we all were. Lately he had been very ornery, but last night must have stirred up some of the good ol' Simon again because his face was back to its usual snarky self. Which was a good thing.

"Yea, I left that one out. Too bad, I would've have had a couple of excellent first hand sources." Derek mumbled. He looked over at me. "You're too quiet. Keep it up and people are going to notice." He didn't smile right away, so I knew he was still mad at me for last night.

"Right." I whispered, I opened my mouth to continue talking but anything I was about to say was lost when Jade got up and started walking towards us. Derek's eyes narrowed. She stood on the other side of the table, her arms twitching at her side. Her face was pale, and I noticed that she had forgone all her normal makeup rituals this morning.

"I umm…Can I...?" She cleared her throat with a cough. "Can I sit?"

Derek and Simon starred at her. When it was obvious that they weren't going to answer I mumbled my mouth dry, "Sure."

She took the chair opposite me very hesitantly, almost reluctantly. She was struggling to keep herself from shaking.

"Jade, we don't bite." I said as normally sarcastic as I could mange. Derek smirked, and I elbowed him in the ribs. Which did nothing but hurt my elbow of course.

"Yea, umm right." She smiled quickly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, I'm still a little….shocked."

"If this conversation is going where I think it is…" Simon said leaning towards the end of the table at her. "It's better left to when there aren't so many eavesdroppers around."

"It's okay." Derek mumbled.

"The only person who can eavesdrop over this racket is Derek." I said. "But even that said. We shouldn't be talking about this at all."

"I know! I know." Jade said some of her old self springing back to her. "It's just, well I want to help you guys out…." She looked around and then leaned in closer to me. "Here's the thing. I don't trust my Granny as far as I can throw her. Whatever she's doing, she's doing it for her sake. Not yours. Anything to make herself look better, higher on the pyramid, so to speak. I thought I would warn you about that."

I saw the true fear in her face, and knew that she was telling the truth. I had lied enough in three years that I could tell some was truthful. It's the eyes. I nodded, and some color returned to her face. "You see….I heard Tori say that you needed to know," And she raised her hands in the air to do the corny air quotes with her fingers, "exactly _'what' _she is. So on the drive home I worked it out of her."

She had our attention now. We all leaned in towards her, she bit her lip as she struggled with how to say the word. "She's a…Nec-damn it how'd she pronounce it….umm…"

"Necromancer." I hissed wanting to slam my palm to my face. "That's why she's so focused on me." Derek's hand moved to my knee very protectively.

"Yes, she did mention that." Jade nodded. "That's why she was trying to get to know me. Shes transfixed on finding a student…um pupil, apprentice. She was hopping I was one too, a necro-whatever, she said it had been skipping generations in our family. But she's sure that I'm nothing. I would have shown some sign of…ghosts or voices….Can you really see ghosts?"

I rolled my eyes. "So what? She wants to teach me how to summon and dispel ghosts? Herbs and chants. Well you can tell her I don't need any of that." I growled, leaning away. "I don't need her….'wisdom'."

Jade starred at me, "I'm sorry Chloe, I know you didn't want me to know, but when I asked her she told me a lot…a lot about you and your family." She eyed Derek, obviously she had been warned to stay away from him. "I'm not going to say anything…No one would believe me anyhow."

Derek's hand tightened on my knee. "No need to stare, I don't bite remember?"

"Um…right." She said blushing and looking away. "I don't know how Gran knows that I'm not one of…what you are." She said looking back at me. "I mean do ghost look like they do in movies? See threw and pale?"

"No they don't." I sighed. "You would have showed signs by now, it starts around puberty."

"Well if they don't look like that then how do I know I've never seen one?" She said a slight sparkle in her eye. I starred at it for a while. She was excited. She wanted to be one of us. She had no clue how wrong she was.

"Do you see the broken cash register in the corner of Lunch room?" I asked.

"What? The one that always has problems? Yea, what about it?" Jade said looking over my shoulder in the direction of the lunch lines.

"Do you see anyone standing right there?"

"No. No one ever goes to that register; they don't even have it open anymore." She said confused.

"Then you're not a Necromancer. If you were, you'd see Miss Carvey's ghost sulking right there. She's an old lunch lady from thirty years ago, back when this was just a small elementary school. She died in the kitchens, from a heart attack. I think she sulks because she's mad that the school has been renovated to fit the growing student numbers. She hates kids especially teenagers, the one time I was foolish enough to go that way, she scolded me."

Jade's mouth twitched. "Oh."

"I don't need your Grandmothers help. I've got everything under control." I said firmly. Jade nodded. "Jade, this life isn't like the comic books or novels. We don't live a blessed life with superpowers and glory. All we have is each other. And all we do is try to blend in. To disappear. You don't want this."

Jade opened her mouth about to say something when Derek cut her off.

"Chloe's right." Derek growled pushing his empty plate away from him. "This is a damned life. Super strength, magic, and ghosts might sound like something exciting and thrilling. But in real life, we are risking our lives everyday just because were different."

"Yup, not a thing like the X-men. It's worse." Simon smiled. "So don't worry. We know your grandma is trouble. Dad's already got a plan. We'll be fine."

"Good." Jade said biting her lip. "I'm glad…Sorry that I…" She looked down and then slowly stood up. "Gran said she'd be back tomorrow."

"Thank you Jade." I said, just then the lunch bell rang. We all stood up, Jade smiled awkwardly hesitated for a minute and then rushed after the gaggle of girls from her lunch table.

We stayed put, waiting for the crowds to disperse. Simon put his hands in his pockets and let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least we know we're not dealing with another mad Witch. Tori's more than enough right now."

"Yea." I mumbled. "Hopefully whatever Kit's got planned is ready before she comes back."

"I'm sure, he's thought of something." Derek mumbled starting to walk towards his class. We were all in the same grade, even though technically Simon and Derek should have graduated last year, I had class with Tori next. I'd tell her what we just learned. She'd feel better knowing that all we were dealing with was another Necromancer.

A knot was forming in my stomach.

…

When we got home that night we had been expecting Kit and Lauren to announce that we were moving. All call for action. They had all day to decide our next move while we were at school we though for the last time.

All we got when we walked through the door was a weak, "were going to see how this plays out." from Kit. Kit was sure that The SCC was here to help and that all we needed to be worried about was Husht and her personal agenda.

"So we're going to do nothing?" Derek growled, looking furious. "This woman, how do we not know that she isn't planning on stabbing us in the back when we are not looking? Why on earth would you want to work with someone like her?"

"She needs her help, and I dare say Derek we could do with some of the protection she can provide." Kit snapped back.

All in all. It wasn't a very moving family meeting.

Hours later I was sitting up in my room hardly paying attention to the book I was supposed to be reading for class. I had way too much on my mind to even care about the drama going on in the pages. I heard the faint familiar tap on my window. I knew it was Derek. I opened the window as quietly as was possible with the old farmhouse's frames. My room was on the second story of the old farm house, but there was an out hanging from the semi wrap-around porch that provided easy access to my window. As long as you had the strength to pull yourself up.

Derek silently slid in without making so much as a floor board creak. After all these years I still didn't know how he managed to be so sneaky with his height and bulk. Must be another Werewolf power, sneakiness.

"Hope I'm not interrupting." Derek whispered. We had been doing this for years. Laruen has insisted that we live in separate houses whenever possible, but that didn't stop Derek from sneaking into my room at the middle of the night to talk to me. Just talk mind you. (Get your minds out of the gutter if they are.) But Lauren would've had a cow if she knew. She liked Derek much more than she had three years ago when she saw him as dangerous. Now she didn't mind him apart from the fact that we were dating. Can't leave us alone for too long, you know teenage hormones and all. Ah geez. Believe me; I was sick and tired of all her "girl talks".

"Nope, just reading a boring book." I said motioning towards the open secondhand school book on my bed.

"Ah." He said picking it up. "The Scarlett Letter."

"Let me guess, you've read it twice and already wrote your paper on it?" I said returning to the spot on my pillows. He joined me, flipping through the pages.

"Why would I need to read it twice?" He smirked. "Haven't you already seen the original movie?"

"Yea, but the quizzes will be on the book. And movies leave out details." I said ashamed.

"Hmm." He said returning to the page I was on. "Hawthorns not one of my favorite's either." He marked my page and handed it to me. "Did you at least get the rest of your homework done?"

"Yes, Mom." I said crossing my arms. Never date a genius, ladies. Their worse than parents.

"Good." He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to me. I starred at it.

"Consider it an early birthday present. I got one for Simon and Tori too. There not for regular use. I have a feeling this SCC people are going to want us to 'help' them out soon. And if we get separated, I wanted a private way of communicating that no one else knew about."

It looked rather new, it didn't look like a smart phone or anything fancy. I turned it on.

"It's nothing grand. You can call and text but no web connection. I had to pay a lot to get them to be nearly untraceable. I already put the other three numbers in there. You can add more if you want, but I wouldn't use the phone other then contacting just us."

I looked through the contacts. Yup only four. I smiled at the names. Derek had written obvious code names as a joke. "Art Wiz, Witch of the West, and Wolf-man? How creative."

"Yea probably should leave all the creative thinking to Simon then, shouldn't I?" He said.

"What's my-." He held up his hand when I started talking. He eyes focused on my door.

"Lauren." He hissed. And he quickly jumped across the room and into my closet. Closing it without making a single sound. The sounds of Lauren's footstep finally became audible to my human ears. Her bedroom was on the first floor, so if she was coming up here than that meant she wanted to talk.

At 11 o'clock? It was something serious.

I reached for my book stuffed the phone in my back pocket and resumed my fake reading. Her footsteps stopped outside my door, hesitant. Then she knocked and open the door slightly. "Chloe, are you still up?"

"Yea. What's up?" I said putting the book down. She came in and took the spot next to me where Derek had just been sitting. My eyes darted to the closet where Derek was now hiding. She placed her hand on my knee, comforting like.

"Chloe. We need to talk." Her face was more worn than usual. Obviously she had been thinking about this all day. This wasn't going to be good. PLEASE oh please not another sex talk. I swear, I'm eighteen years old did I really need to be sheltered like this? I felt the knot in my stomach return and **really** wished that my boyfriend wasn't listing from the closet.

"Are you okay?" She asked worried.

"Yea fine."

"No problems? Kids at school? Are you and Derek doing okay?"

"No problems. Kids a school are great. And Derek's great, as great as a moody Werewolf teenager can be." I said keeping in mind the fact that the moody teenage werewolf was over-hearing everything. "Lauren if this is going to turn into another 'talk', I'm going to save you some time. Me and Derek haven't done anything _rated R_. I don't need the sex talk _again_. I'm eighteen years old, I'm an adult and so is Derek. For the hundredth time, you don't have to worry about that."

She shook her head her lips twitching almost smiling. "No this…this isn't another sex talk. You're an adult now and can do whatever you want. I know that." The grip on my knee tightened. "It's just, everything that happened yesterday. I want to make sure you…understand." Lauren said her eyes a bit distant.

"Understand? Yea I understand. Kit thinks we can trust the SCC. Husht wants me to be her _apprentice_ so she can pass on her ghostly ways to me. And ….what are you so worried about?" I said growing nervous as I watched her face became more and more worn.

"It's about what Ms Husht…. She told us everything."

My eye grew wide. Oh no.

"I want to know your version of the day we escaped the Edison Group Headquarters." She said her eyes locked on me, she was here for answers and the worst part was that she already knew them; she just wanted me to admit to it. "I never questioned it before. I just counted it as blessing at the time. I just wanted us to be free. But now….Husht she said that you…" She took a deep breath. "Chloe did you really call forth a Demon to help you?"

I starred at her my mouth clamped shut. I was backed into a corner now. What to do. What were my options? I could deny it. I could say Husht was lying to upset us. I could act dumb….but Lauren was too smart for that. I thought of Derek hiding in my closet. Damn it. He could hear everything. I had to say something soon or else I would just be digging myself a deeper hole.

I opened my mouth to say something. But shut it when I still couldn't think of anything.

"Chloe." Laruen said in her most parent-like tone. "Tell me why you did it? What possessed you to do such a thing?"

"I..I didn't…." I started but her eyes narrowed. "I had…"

"Chloe tell me the truth." Laruen said crossing her legs. "I want to hear it from you."

I closed my eyes. I guess three years keeping a secret was about as long as I could manage. Time to let go, and tell the truth. I did a quick run through, imagining files in my mind as I tried to think of any excuse. Any at all. She knew. And she wasn't going to take any of my lies. "I had no choice okay?" I said pushing myself back away from her. "It was either that, or get gunned down when we tried to escape. "

"Chloe!" Laruen looked at me horrified. "Do you even understand what you could've done? These powers of yours aren't playthings. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you do it!"

"I Know." I snapped at her. She didn't need to tell me that. I knew firsthand how dangerous my powers were. I was more terrified of them then she was. "At the time, I was thinking about surviving till the next week. I wasn't thinking much on all the tiny details. I was fifteen, what would any other fifteen year old girl do under that kind of pressure?" I snapped at her. "Life or Death."

"Chloe, A Demon! This could be serious! Don't you understand! All these accidents nationwide, they could all be your fault!"

I looked away. This was exactly what I had feared. How many more people had died because of me?

"You are in Danger, Chloe. This Demon you unleashed has been free for three years, it will come back and it will be angry. Even if it's not the thing causing the disasters, it still will want you. From what I read in the occult files at the Edison Group, they can hold grudges for generations; they all have different agenda's. And you'll be at the center of it."

"M-Me, why?" I said very childish, I know.

"Because that's what Demon's do. They attach themselves to Humans, mostly the ones that release them. Not everyone can do this. Some normal people can with chants and satanic rituals, but only the very powerful need Necromancers to release them. The one that you released had to be one of those. Who knows what they want with you, but it won't be good." Her eyes were filling with tears. "Why didn't you tell me about this three years ago? We could have planned ahead, found a counter or something. Now it's too late."

"T-too late?"

"If we can find the Demon and destroy it before it enacts it plans, we still have a chance. But Chloe, what did you think you were doing?"

"I-I-I-….I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. It was my decision; I should be the one to suffer for it." I said my face set. She starred at me; she saw how confident I was trying to be. She grabbed my hand, trying to comfort me I suppose.

"Chloe…I….We're going to fix this. Ms Husht is going to help you fight this. With two Necromancers, we'll be able to fight this…..Don't worry, we are here to help you."

I squeezed her hand, it was comforting. But…I didn't want her to get hurt. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I nodded. "You don't have to fight this alone."

"I don't want anyone else to get hurt. I'll find a way to handle this." I felt the knot grow even larger. I bit my lip. "L-Lauren…I'm very tired….can we umm discuss this in the morning?"

She looked a little disappointed but she nodded. "Of course hun." She patted my knee one more time before leaving. I held my breath waiting to hear her footsteps disappear down the stair case.

Great. Wonderful. Fan-fricken-Tastic.

I looked over at my closet door.

Slowly I went over to the door, and hesitated. I should've told him yesterday. This was going to be worse than the reaction he would've had. I had some major cleaning up to do. I needed to fix It and fix it fast. Apparently, just like demons, I've found that Werewolves hold grudges just as long.

Damn. When I opened the door he was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. His eyes literally glowing in the dark. Oh….Spooky.

"A demon, huh?" He mumbled.

"Derek I-."

"You don't have to explain it." Derek moved towards the window. "You made your point clear." He crawled out the window but turned around and leaned towards me. "Keep the phone close. See you in the morning."

"I….What?" I grabbed his shirt to stop him. "You're mad. I know you're mad."

"Not mad. Night." He pulled me down and kissed me and dropped from the window before I could say anything.

I blinked, he was still mad. I knew he was. I crawled out the window and to the edge of the hanging roof and looked out. Derek was already crawling through his window in the farm house …. A five minute walk and ten minute climb for me and only five seconds for him. This is how he knew to deal with problems. By locking everything away and pretending nothing happened. I debated with myself about going after him. But the thing was that it was much harder to climb up to Derek's window then mine. I always needed his help.

So a few seconds later I was slumped on my bed. What the hell am I going to do? How am I going to fix this? _Think think think. _Derek was stubborn, but so was I. We both liked to keep our secrets. But if this was going to work, we had to be 105% honest with each other. I hated it when he keep things, but this was a two way street. I should not have expected him to be truthful and done what I did...Who could I talk to about this? Lauren, No. Kit, No. Tori, hell no. Maybe Simon...

I heard a faint buzz coming from my back pocket. It was the cell phone. I pulled it out expecting to see Derek's name pop up. But it was a text from Simon:

**what happened? **

**-art wiz  
**

I starred at the two words on the screen. Great. Simon could tell within a minute when Derek was upset, this was bad. No way was this going to be a quick fix…

…

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS **_

_**So tired lately. I rewrote this chapter twice,not my favorite chapter that ive written , but it's over now. I can move on to the next chapter where finally some action….maybe….**_

_**Read and review. Thanks!**_


	5. Chapter 5: New Plan

That morning arrived far too soon. My dreams had been full of hazy images, and someone talking in a muffled foreign language. It was very unsettling, and I sat in my bed for a while listening to my heart beat stabilize. I tried to rationalize it as normal teenage stress, although deep down I knew it meant something far worse.

Memory of the previous night washed over me like a fifty foot wave and I fought off the urge to slap my hand on my forehead. I came to the conclusion once again. _I am a complete idiot. _

…_._

Lauren was sitting at the small kitchen table with her regular newspaper and coffee when I came downstairs. She pointed to the stove where there was a pan of fresh French toast. My favorite. I looked over at her. This was suspicious. Lauren didn't like to cook breakfast. She was more the, grab some coffee, a bowl of cereal, and just jet out the door type.

Freshly cooked breakfast? Something horrible was going to happen.

"What?" She said taking a sip of her coffee.

"What are you planning?" I said as I carried the toast over and sat opposite her at the table drowning the delicious bread in maple syrup.

"Nothing." She said flipping the newspaper over. Of course I didn't believe her. I hesitated before I filled my fork and then my mouth with food. "Ms. Husht wants to meet with you today."

My mouth was full so I couldn't outright protest so I did the best intimation of Derek's death glare I could manage. I'd give myself a B for effort, there's an art to it that I hadn't quite got the hang of yet.

She just continued on, ignoring me. "She wants to see how far you've come on your own, and understand how advance you are."

"And if I was to say no?" I said pushing the plate away; it was just like Hansel and Gretel, she was trying to soften me up into cooperating before feeding me to the witch. No thanks.

"Chloe, we need her help. You're going to talk to her. End of story." She said looking over the paper at me. "Even if you don't like this woman, there are still things you can learn from her. Use her knowledge of the occult, god knows she's been doing it for almost 70 years."

"She's 70 years old?" I said a little shocked. But Lauren wasn't listening. She raised her hand and gestured towards the door.

"If you're not going to eat the food I slaved over then go, heaven forbid I keep you from your Boyfriend for more than a minute."

I didn't move. She smiled at me. "Sarcasm, Chloe, Sarcasm."

"Yea and you suck at it. I don't like Husht….I don't think I can stand being in the same room with her let alone take lesson's form her…" I sighed putting my head on the table.

"Then ask Tori, Simon or Derek to sit with you. I bet Derek would be over the moon about it." Lauren said returning to her coffee. I looked up at her, debating if I should ask her advice on how to deal with Derek. Probably wasn't a good idea to mention to her that Derek had overheard everything we had said last night from the comforts of my closet. It might give her the wrong idea.

"I'll probably ask Simon, we have English together and I need help with my paper topic, its due Monday." I started to get up and leave when Lauren reached out and grabbed my arm.

"Chloe. You won't be going back to school on Monday." I starred at her a little shocked. "Kit and I decided that for the time being you're a danger to yourself and everyone around you. We don't know when this Demon will be coming back for you and until then you need to stay where we can keep an eye on you."

"But what about graduation?" I said my heart getting heavy. I was so close. So damn close!

"Ms. Husht said she'd be able to bring a teacher from the SCC for you so you could be home schooled. We're going to fabricate a story so your school believes your ill and that in order for you to graduate on time we've hired a private teacher to corporate with them."

My eyes narrowed. More lies. I personally was getting sick of all these lies. Couldn't we just decide to stop one day? No more lying. I could be Chloe Saunders again, I took a deep breath and for five seconds I imagined that to be the truth. My old life, my old self. And then once those five seconds were over I let it fade away knowing that my future wasn't there. It was here, and if that meant being bullied by some 70 year old bitch then I was just going to have to toughen up. "Oh. Well. There you have it." I said walking out of the room without a second glance back at her.

I stood on the porch starring out across the yard. I wasn't sure yet on how I felt about this "private" Teacher business. I had far too much more on my mind to deal with what would come Monday. I had to focus on today, on the now. I heard the lawnmower's engine roaring over at Kit's; Derek must be doing his chores. I made my way towards the other farm house when I caught the shine from Simon's hair near the shed.

Changing my course for Simon, I saw a glimpse of Derek on the ride on lawnmower as he speed around the house. Simon looked up when I knocked on the side of the shed. "What's up Velma?" He said deep behind the rubble, smiling. He was making fun of the orange shirt I had put on today. Good I wasn't dealing with moody Simon.

"Not much Shaggy." I said as he tossed me a rake. "No Ghost on the home front…Velma huh? It's the glasses isn't it?"

"Well, I always thought of you as a 'Velma'. Smart, brave and a little nerdy. Who else would you be?" He said as he picked up a bucket looking for the big clipping shears. "Daphne….well she's more like Tori, a bit bitchy and overly obsessed with material things. And let's just say that Derek is Scooby because they share a few 'furry' things in common. _Don't tell him I said that by the way_. And…Hey! Why the hell am I Shaggy?" he was pointing to his blondish hair.

"Cause. Deep down under the pretty rich boy façade, I always thought of Fred as in Asshole. Shaggy is more lovable, and quirky. And…truthfully I could never picture you in an orange ascot." I smiled wide at him as he shook a cobweb out of his blond hair as he stepped out into the sun.

"Yea." He laughed tugging at his collar. "Never did accessorize good, now did I?" He face lost a bit of color as he saw Derek making his next trip around the house with the mower. "So are _**you**_ going to explain what happen last night?"

"Oh," I said looking away from him and towards Derek in the distance. "Yea, I guess you could say were having our first big fight."

"Really? The perfect couple has problems? Is there no hope for humanity?" He said setting off towards the hedges but not before I got a good hard punch to his back in. In order to keep us busy and out of "normal teenage social situations" Kit had devised an evil plan for us with hard outdoor chores to do all week end long. Crazy insane Fun, right? Wrong.

On the plus side, we had the best overly pruned yard and garden in the neighborhood. And by neighborhood I mean the three to four farm houses that were scattered down our secluded dirt road.

He was just trying to keep us as secluded as possible, which was understandable. Being supernatural had a big price, being shut off from society. It wasn't that hard to get use to. Derek had the easiest time with it, seeing how his whole life all he ever had done was try to make himself invisible. And I'd have to say that Tori had the worst time void of a social life. In the end, Tori re-discovered the internet and that was enough to keep her mouth shut most of the time. Me and Simon, well I'd say we both hated the idea but lived with it. We both knew the sacrifice was worth it.

"May I ask whose fault it is? All Derek told me last night was that he was tired and was going to bed. But he looked pissed." Simon said pulling some weeds out of the ground and I raked them into a neat pile.

"That would be me." I sighed defeated. He looked up a little shocked. "Yea my fault."

"Hmm. I always thought your first fight would be about him. He can be rather you know…Derek-like at times. No offense, if you like the overly-protective type."

"Yea, well I lied to him about something serious. And now he's upset that I can't trust him I suppose…" I looked over at him on the mower but it was too far away to see his face. "I should've told him, But I'm rather stupid sometimes…And I wanted to tell him. But…"

"I wouldn't say stupid…just naive. What was it that set him off? It had to be something big."

"I lied to him about summoning a Demon three years ago to accomplish the distraction at the Edison group that allowed us to escape unharmed." I said in a rush, feeling a huge weight lifting off my shoulders. I had already admitted it to Lauren but I hadn't actually said it fully out loud yet. "That's what Husht was talking about; they think the demon will return to exact its evil plan through me. And she thinks all these earthquakes and strange electrical surges have something to do with it. Basically I unleashed hell on to us all…not a very good movie plot I must admit."

I looked down at him he had stopped fussing under the hedges, his eyes were offset his mouth open a bit in shock. "Okay…" He mumbled. "Never mind what I said, you are a bit stupid." He looked up at me worried, "Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so. Lauren thinks that I can nip this in the butt if I let Husht help me….ughh." I said rubbing my neck. I must have slept on it wrong.

"Tough luck." Simon said his corner of mouth twitching attempting to smile, but he looked away. I could physically feel the sunshine being sucked away from Simon as he returned to destroying the out of control hedges. I stood there for a minute expecting more comfort from him but none came. I couldn't tell what I had said that really set him off, but I could tell he was becoming moody Simon once again. I was starting to think that maybe Simon was Bipolar or something….but that didn't fit him at all. For as long as I had known him, Simon had been the one person I could always count on for a reassuring smile, a good joke, or a sarcastic comment.

I coughed trying to break the growing silence. "So do you think a heart shaped box of chocolates and a written apology might help smooth this whole thing over? How about a sappy love poem?" 

"Chloe." Simon said a little cold. "Derek won't let a demon get in his way. He's probably all up tight trying to think of strategies with all his genius that will help him fight this thing off. He is obsessed with you. Dad always told me growing up that Werewolves were very possessive, and in his head, he feels obligated to do everything for you. He's probably just mad that you keep it a secret so long, and he doesn't have that much time to prepare. On the other hand…." Simon trailed off as he focused on the hedges.

"He can hold a grudge for months, I bet even years. You might just want to wait this out. You two have been steady for almost three years now….maybe you guys need a bit of a break." He made sure to not make eye contact with me as he held out his hand for the rake. "I've got the hedges. You should go water Tori's vegetable garden, she probably forgot to do it again."

A Break huh? I felt a pang in my gut. I didn't want that. If there was one fact that I knew without a doubt, it was that being with Derek made me happy. And I had always assumed that Derek felt the same about me.

But this wasn't a normal teenage relationship. I knew that dating a werewolf meant dealing with a bit more then if I was dating your average Joe. Werewolves can be controlling, stubborn and manipulative. The more dominant they were the more of a control freak they can be. I knew that. But a break? I felt that would just push us more apart. And I was pretty sure Derek would be stubborn enough not to let me go….Dang the more I thought about it, the more this was turning into a bad teenage soap opera drama on basic cable. Oh no. Better stop over thinking this or we were in danger of becoming the new drama filled horror version of Gilmore girls. I'd say it would be part Gilmore part Buffy. And that was territory I dare not tread, if I wanted to keep my sanity.

Derek was done with the lawn I could see him putting the mower away in the garage. I was going to get this fixed. I would talk to him and we would fix this together.

_I can fix this. _I thought as I left Simon to his silence and walked towards the garage. He wasn't in there when I opened the door. That meant he was cooling off. And sure enough I turned the corner and he was soaking wet from the sprinkler. He looked up when I started his way and he lifted his hand to wave hello.

"Hey." I said a bit unsure.

"Hey." He replied back. He was covered in the sweat from being out in the sun, and he was washing away as much as he could with the sprinkler. His stare was a bit blank and unnerving. It kind of felt like I was back at the Lyle house after just meeting Derek when he was being his sulking creepy self. He was very closed off. I stared at him for while trying to decide how to word my apology.

"I wanted…." I started but stopped as he shook his head drenching his hair in the luke warm hose water. His shirt was soaking wet and was one of the few times anyone would see him in a tank top. Derek believed in covering up his amazing werewolf physique with baggy clothes. A crime I must say. I blinked trying to clear my head. "I wanted to say sorry for last night. I know that wasn't the proper way for you to find out….I just didn't want you to worry about it." He didn't say anything just nodded and tried to ring as much water out of his shirt and pants as he could. "I should've told you."

I stood there waiting for him to say something. Anything. Once he was satisfied with his quick hose down. He turned off the hose and grabbed a nearby rag to dry his hands and face off. Oh great the silence treatment? Were we five? His eye's caught mine for the first time, and I could tell he was still thinking about it. He started to walk towards me and I really thought for a split second that he was just going to walk away. But then he grabbed my shoulder as to make me walk with him. "Don't worry about it. Lauren and Kit were right; we can use Husht's to fix this. It will be like it never happened."

Ah, it sounds real nice and all but I could tell he wasn't being truthful. He was still mad.

"You're still mad. Stop hiding it." I said half pulling away from him. He looked down at me his face was controlled, but his eyes were fierce.

"It's completely reasonable that I'm upset.." He glared at me, "Yeah, you should've told me what you were doing, or at least told me afterwards….But you didn't. You didn't trust me. So I am _Sorry_ if I don't accept your heartfelt words right away." He squeezed my shoulder once before walking away towards the house and up the porch and out of sight. That was it?

"Wait! I'm not done." I said loud enough for his werewolf hearing to take notice of. I heard his footsteps slowly return to the porch. His eyebrow raised. "It's not because I don't trust you. You're the only person I have ever fully trusted with everything. But this Demon thing was my fault. I choose to do it. I should be the one to suffer. Not you!"

"Suffer?" He said his voice getting louder. He shook his head and started to say something, but I saw him catch himself and turn to leave.

"NO! I want the old _old_ Derek right now." I said stomping after him so I was on the bottom step looking up into his face. "The old Derek wouldn't have bitten his tongue. He would have shouted me out. At least then, I would know how to fix this. Right now I need to know what you're really thinking!"

He glared down at me for what seemed like forever. Making me uncomfortable and I shuffled my feet trying to relive the tension building up in my back. "I'm pissed." He said through his teeth. "Whatever you say to try and reason around it, you still lied. For three years..." He leaned down, his hand on the railing so he could suspend himself over me…towering over me. "I thought we were in this together."

I opened my mouth to protest but I just started up at him like an idiot. He could be scary sometimes without even trying. "You could never imagine…" He whispered his voice going soft. "How much it would hurt me if you died because I didn't know how to save you. Chloe…Chloe, Chloe Chloe…Don't ever do that to me again…." He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his face still a bit harsh.

And with that he turned and disappeared into the house.

I saw the pain in his eyes. I should've known, should've realized how terrified he had been when he understood the danger I had created for myself. I was afraid, but nowhere compared to what he was feeling. Yep….that didn't work exactly how I had wanted it to. I looked at the doorway for a while before deciding to give him some space. I turned and sat down on the step. My first conclusion was right; I am an idiot. And now I was even more confused. He didn't seem that mad, more disappointed than anything. I had broken his pride. Not our relationship.

Then the sounds of gravel being disturbed from our driveway told me that my morning was about to get a thousand times worse. I put on my best face and completely ignored the black vehicle coming my way.

….

Husht didn't like my idea to have our 'lessons' outside. But It was a nice day out, and I wasn't going to waste my weekend just because she wanted to hold dark séances in the closet with candles and voodoo mumbo jumbo. I wasn't your typical necromancer. I broke the mold. Ha. I didn't have a cabinet full of various herbs and talismans to help me contact the dead or even wear dark or gothic cloths. The only thing I had that was somewhat dark was a belt buckle in the shape of a skull that Tori had given me for my sixteenth birthday. Even though I didn't like those kinds of things, I did wear that belt a lot. Call it sentimental but it was the first gift Tori had ever given me.

But Husht looked off her element when we sat down at the picnic table. She pulled out a candle and lit it. Lucky for her it wasn't a windy day. "I don't need that." I said motioning to the candle.

"Humor me then. I feel more comfortable with it." She said fussing with the position on the table. When she was satisfied she folded her hands in front of her and starred at me a hint of excitement. "I have read your file many times, Chloe. Our records and even what was left from our Edison friends. You Aunt told me how advanced she believes you are, but she wasn't a very good source. Why don't you tell me your limits."

"I don't have any." I said confused. Surely the Edison group had written down somewhere of how out of control I was. She cocked her head.

"You've had no teachings but you say you have no limits." She said looking at the flame. "Is it true you can't control your powers?"

"I didn't use to be able too. I meditate now to calm myself at night before I go to bed. If I do that, then I can control it. Sometimes it gets worse when I have bad dreams. But I'm getting better at that too." I said rocking back and forth on my bench. "But I don't need any chants or rituals to call ghosts or…worse."

"Ah." She said reaching into her bag. "So if I were to ask you to call someone's ghost you could do it?"

"Well, just because I could doesn't mean I would." I said my eye's narrowing."And you know better than I that sometimes the dead disserve to rest in peace." If these lesson's were going to involve real ghosts who were at peace, then I was going to be even more uncomfortable. Husht handed me a photograph and a woman's wedding ring from her bag. The picture was that of an older woman. It was faded, I'd say it had been taken about thirty years ago judging by the cloths she was wearing and by the make of the wedding ring. She had a very soft face, and gave off a Betty White-esk vibe. Her outside appearance looked that of happy and wealthy woman. But… I could see by the faint cloud in her eyes that revealed it was just a mask she wore to hide from the world.

I looked up from the photograph my eyebrow raised. "What exactly are you asking me?"

"I want to see if your amazing powers are as _advanced_ as you say they are." She motioned to the photograph. "Her name was Marie Weese. She immigrated to America when she was five years old, married a very wealthy man when she was seventeen and died under suspicious circumstances on her eightieth birthday a week after that photo was taken."

Again I starred at her. She waited calmly, her hands gently folded in front of her, expecting…what? A show? I smiled shaking my head. "You're kidding me right?" I said tossing the photograph down and gently placing the ring on top. "There is no way in hell I am going to disturb some little old lady just because you want to see me in action." I stood to leave but I heard a faint chuckle that could have only come from her.

"Well, I guess then," She picked up the photograph and held it gingerly, "we will never know."

"Oh shut up." I snapped. She looked up at me her eyebrows raised in amusement. "You come here and expect me to fall into all your little traps. Show you that I'm just a scared little girl who doesn't understand her powers. _Oh hmm so scared_." I said my voice getting lower and lower. Oh how just looking at this woman pissed me off. I leaned forward so I was hovering over her. "Tell me Ms. Husht. Tell me the secrets to this satanic art? Is that what you want me to do? Beg for your help?"

"No, Chloe. I want to see how far your powers can go. Necromancer to Necromancer I want to know what I'm up against." She sighed, her face becoming serious. "I want you to show off."

Oh if eyes could kill, because mine would've strangled this foul woman in front of me. The minute she said 'show off' I felt a red flag flare up in the back of my mind.

I felt Derek's stare on me before I saw him. He was standing on his porch, his arms crossed. He obviously could hear us. If Derek had one rule he stuck by, and expected us to as well, it was to _never_ show off. Never put all your cards on the table. I starred at the picture. I knew that it wouldn't be difficult to call this woman's ghost. But I wasn't going to.

"Fine, Myrtle." I said returning to my seat and mimicking her posture. I was damned if this woman was going to make me feel insignificant. "You want to play this little game. I'll humor you. Necromancer to Necromancer."

"Good. Then go ahead." Myrtle said handing me the photograph. But I pushed it away.

"No. Not me. The teacher goes first. Demonstrate. Please." I smiled. She glared at me. I was calling her bluff. If she was testing my powers then this woman's ghost must be a complicated case. It would be something that she would have deemed a hard enough trial for me to make me fail.

"Chloe, these lesson's are for me to learn and access-."

"Yes and I'm telling you right here and right now. That I am not some stupid little girl who can't control her powers. And that I'm desperate to show you all I can do. This woman you want me to call? I'm assuming her soul is lost because of the tragedy and uncertainty of her death and can't come to grasp her situation. I bet she won't be a willing subject for your little 'lesson'. I am guessing that even you would have trouble reaching her. You would need to be at the woman's grave, near her body, not just some photograph and a ring. You want to see if I can help you with your own problems, because you cannot call her, and seeing how I am this out of control super powerful necromancer freak then maybe, just maybe you can use me. Am I right?"

I took a glimpse over her shoulder to see Derek's reaction. He was nodding in approval. I felt the cold lump in my chest that had been growing there all morning start warm as I saw the corners of his mouth twitch upward. I felt a bit more confident knowing that even though he was upset with me, he was still looking over me.

It took her a long time to respond. She fiddled with the ring in her hand. She took a deep breath and then looked over at me. "Okay." She said folding the picture. "I understand why you don't want to call her. But I can't."

"Really?" I said a little proud of myself. Chloe: one, evil conniving Bitch: zero. I waited for her to explain, but she just shook her head in defeat, smiling faintly.

"Yes really. I admit I admire you. You don't flaunt your power. And that's good." She sighed and put the photo away. Oh why did my supernatural spidey senses tell me that this story wasn't over yet? I knew I hadn't seen the last of the little old woman in the picture. Things like this had a horrible habit of coming back and biting me in the rear end. She pulled out a thick hand sized book. "For now, let's just focus on the Demon you summoned. I need to know everything you told it and more importantly everything it told you."

….

I walked into Kit's house, exhausted. I had described every little detail to Husht at least three times. My mind was on the fritz and it was only one o'clock. I walked in the hallway and Tori on the land line telephone caught my attention. I automatically assumed that it was her on again off again boyfriend. But she held up her hand and motioned for me to come over. I raised my eyebrow but did as I was told.

"Mnn… yea… Sounds fun… My dad would have a cow…" unfortunately with limited human hearing I could only hear part of the conversation. "See ya in a few… yup bye." And with that she hung up the phone.

"And who was that?" I asked, curiously.

"A girl from school. No one important. But she has just convinced me to go to the concert tonight over in the next county. There's a small County Fair going on too. It's going to be a blast. So what do you say?"

"About what?" I looked at her confused.

"Convince Derek to drive us up there, of course! Dad won't let us use his car. He won't let us go for that matter."

"Tori, that's probably not the smartest thing to do right now…with all the stuff going on and-." I started.

"Oh come on! All the kids from our school are going to be there! HECK Kids from other schools are going to be there! Rides, games, food, and then live music all into the wee hours of the morning. Put it this way," she grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently, "Your eighteen and you haven't done much in the rebel department. Live a little, what Kit and Lauren don't know won't kill them."

"'Haven't done much in the rebel department?' May I remind you I ran away from a mental institution, date a werewolf, and fought against a sadist and corrupt higher power all before I could legally dive?" I smiled at her. I laughed thinking how Tori could bring out the bad in anyone.

"Besides that." Tori waved it off. "I mean NORMAL teenage rebellion. Come on, do it for me. I'll take the blame! I'll tell Kit tomorrow that I bewitched you lot with my witty charms!" She stuck out her bottom lip. I opened my mouth to answer but didn't have to, Derek and Simon's sudden appearance made us both turn.

"Teenage rebellion? A party and a concert huh?" Derek said scratching his chin. Simon looked at me and winked. "And Tori takes all the blame in the end?...Sounds good to me." He said his expression frozen in his old solemn ways. Tori lit up at Derek's words she did a quick motion with her hand. I looked a bit shocked by Derek's sudden desire to tick off his dad. I looked at him both weary and curiously. He nodded at me and went out of the room to get his keys.

"I convinced him to mellow out a bit." Simon said coming over to rub my shoulder. "We need a break from all this fighting, new rule no more fighting."

"Fighting? Who's fighting?" Tori asked looking between the pair of us.

"Nothing Tori, just go and get your purse." Simon waved her off. She stuck her tongue out at him, and then sauntered off to her room. "Derek's got to get the keys from Dad; he took the car to get it checked out this morning."

"Is this really a smart idea? Sneaking out, when the SCC and a demon are hot on my tail?" I asked him. I noticed Simon's eyes glaze over a bit, like he was deep in thought.

"It really isn't smart to do anything anymore. I don't think the world will end if we break curfew once. Dad might be furious, but all he can do is ground us. Not much fear in that is there?" He answered very sure of himself.

"No, I guess not." I said, still worried but a bit more content.

"And besides. If we sit here and do nothing were all going to go crazy. Along with the no fighting I've come up with a better rule."He said wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Oh really?"

"Yup. New_ New _Rule: live life like the mystery gang, and meddle your way out of everything."

…..

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**

**Not much to say. Sorry for the very long hiatus. Had a lot of problems to deal with. All sorted out now. And I hope I can finish this story. Cause I hate to leave my stories unfinished.**

**And if u haven't figured it out yet. I love Scooby doo. **

**Review plz!**


	6. Chapter 6: Threat

**DEREK"S POV**

I heard Dad moving around in his little study, he was rearranging books. He was too focused on something to even hear me come up. Sometimes even I forget that no-one else is as alert as I was a hundred percent of the time. I knocked twice on the doorframe in order to get his attention.

"Eh Derek, the lawn's done already?" He smiled looking over his shoulder.

"Ya, Did the car check out okay?" I asked leaning on the wall.

"The guy said that it may need some new breaks soon. He said you did a good job on changing the oil and he changed the rear tires. Don't worry about paying me back. My thanks for borrowing it for the morning." Pops continued to put the books on the shelves, flipping through one by one as he talked.

"Cool. Thanks. I'm taking the gang to the mall again; Chloe still hasn't bought your little princess a birthday present yet." I said, I knew how to get what I wanted from my dad. I did not ask him permission; I told him what I was doing, even if I wasn't telling him the full truth.

"That doesn't sound like the smartest idea, son. Not when Chloe is in such danger and these unexplained weather patterns and disasters keep on happening." Kit turned to look at me more serious. My face showed nothing. I starred him down.

"You're going to deny two teenage girls their right to shop?" I said jokingly. Dad smiled. "If I'm right in guessing your planning on keeping Chloe on a short leash for the next few months, then let me take her out for one night of fun. Is that really a big deal?" Chloe was about to feel trapped soon Kit, Lauren and Husht would have her locked away safe where they could observe.

My instincts were telling me the same thing. Keep an eye on her, but more importantly; Keep her happy. Gloomy days were ahead. And she was going to need me. I felt the knot in my stomach turn remembering the whole story. I was not in the least bit pleased with Chloe's reaction. To the situation and me. My gut told me she was all worked up about lying to me. However, that did not change the blow my pride had taken.

Dad raised his eyebrows. "I guess a trip to the mall isn't that bad, you're right. Anyway, you'll be there. That's better than Chloe having a police escort." He laughed but Derek noticed that the laughter didn't reach his eyes; he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the car keys. But he didn't hand them to me right away. "Not that I'm concerned or anything but, you and Chloe…"

I rolled my eyes. "Dad, I don't need your help to fix my relationships. I'm a big boy; I can take care of it myself." I held out my hand for the keys. He smiled shaking his head and walked over to his desk. He pulled out a tiny pink bag. I felt a slight uncontrolled twitch in my face as I recognized the bag as the joke underwear Tori had bought.

"Now I know your nineteen. And I have no say on your…." He struggled with the next few words, "your sex life. But please don't leave stuff like this laying around. Chloe may not be my daughter, but I care for her like she was. And I really don't want to think about her this way." He held out the bag and the keys. My face twisted a bit as I grabbed the keys and the bag.

"Dad, it's not what you think Tori was-." I started but he held up his hand shaking his head.

"No. No. I don't need to hear it." He went back to the bookshelf. "Please, let's just end this conversation here. Okay?"

I really didn't want to end this talk with that. But I walked out any way. I quickly ran up stairs to change out of my chore cloths still a bit damp from the hose a few hours ago, running into the Queen Bitch as I turned the corner.

"Sorry Rover, didn't see you there. Get the keys back did ya?" Tori smiled.

"Yea. And thanks for this," I growled, throwing the bag at her face. She caught it as if she was _expecting_ me to throw something at her. "Now Dad thinks I'm a pervert. Job well done."

She laughed. "Idiot, why did you leave them in the car? There nice you know, spent some good money on them. Pity they're going to waste." She winked at me, making me angry I reached for the bag; dad had the wrong idea on who the real pervert in this family was. She ducked. "Yea your right. I will just give these to Chloe myself." She stuck her tongue out at me before racing down the stairs.

I growled and cursed under my breath. Three years, and I still hated that woman. Mine and Simon's room was at the end of the hall, and the window had a great view of the road and Lauren and Chloe's house. As I struggled out of my shirt and into something a bit cleaner, I caught a glimpse of the three stooges hovering around my car. I saw Tori throw the small bag at Chloe who blushed once she looked inside. She said something; I was too far off to hear it clearly but it sounded like, _What the hell._

Tori went to hide by diving for the back seat. But Simon was in her way. He mumbled something into her ear to quiet and too far away for me to catch anything but the rhythm. She crossed her arms and shook her head. But Simon gave her one of those, "For the love of god Tori shut up and do it" looks. She glared at him before shrugging her shoulders in fake defeat and to my shock jumped willingly into the front passenger seat.

Chloe looked around a bit confused, but Simon whispered something into her ear and she nodded. He opened the rear door and she climbed in. I guess Simon was trying to get Chloe to calm down. She did seem upset over their 'confrontation' this morning. He was just looking out for the both of us. But the way Simon's hand lingered to long on Chloe's back and how close he leaned to whisper into her ear…

I felt the growl rise up in my throat. And the all too familiar red hot imagery and thoughts rush to my head. I shook my head trying to clear my mind. The wolf in me was highly over protective. It had too many opinions on Chloe and how I _should _act. I didn't particularly like its way of thinking most the time.

What I think I hated most about it was that deep down, I knew that in the end, my excuses meant nothing. It was not the _wolf_ thinking on its own, it was me and how I was made. I thought that way because I was built that way. Because I wasn't just human. My core, my instincts were animalistic.

But I had control. And that is what mattered. And for my family, and mostly Chloe's sake, I could act as normal as they needed me to be.

I was about to turn and race down the stairs to join them, but just then I caught Simon's eyes all of a sudden on me. His eyes were focused on me all the way on the second story window. It didn't matter the distance, I could clearly make out Simon's face through the dirty glass. I could feel my muscles tensing, and the wolf snarl from deep inside. It was like a wrecking ball to my head as my animal instincts became overwhelming. I could hear it screaming at me.

_Threat._

I tried my hardest to control my face as I returned my brother's stare. It was horrifying. If I had any doubt before now, it was gone in an instant. That was not Simon.

And that could only mean…

**CHLOE"S POV**

I noticed Derek's eyes kept glancing up into the rearview mirror. I tried to pretend that I wasn't paying attention. I felt a bit off in the back seat. Thinking back. I don't think I ever sat in the back seat of Derek's car till today. Wow. Simon said he had talked to Derek, and that he just needed space. And that It would be more comfortable for both of us if I just sat in the back seat and gave Derek a break.

I looked over at Simon, he smiled reassuring back at me. Then he continued to look out the window at the passing trees. I went back to my own window, Derek's favorite radio station had a great variety of music and I found myself quick to tap my feet to the songs. I caught Derek glance up at the mirror again and then I realized that he wasn't looking back at me. He was looking at Simon.

I followed his gaze and then looked back at the mirror. Now he was looking at me. And three years had taught my instincts to react to Derek's almost instantly. Something was horribly wrong. But Derek was still unsure, that's why he hadn't said anything out loud yet. He didn't want to cause trouble or worry us if he wasn't right. I'd have to get him alone to ask him. That is if he trusted me anymore that is….

"Aren't we just the talkative bunch?" Tori said humming awkwardly from the front seat. She looked at Derek, and then at Simon and then she twisted around to look at me. "This is going to be a looooong trip."

I smiled weakly at her. She automatically noticed, and gave me a reassuring smile before winking and turning back to the road.

"You should come over later tonight Chloe," She said louder then she needed to, "you could model those underwear for me."

And with that Derek turned the radio up to almost full blast. Which made Tori laugh out loud. I ignored her and trying to hide my face hung it halfway out the open window. She was right, this was going to be a long and awkward drive.

…

Tori had been right. There were alot of people here.

It had taken us an hour, Derek carefully speeding the whole way here. Tori automatically was heading towards the crowds, Derek, Simon and me trailing behind. Tori was much more comfortable about interacting with lots of people then we were. Since we escaped from the Edison group, she had created a failsafe system that worked for her. She never let herself be emotionally attached to anyone but the three of us, Kit and Lauren.

I had noticed early on, and it only made me worry. I knew that our lives as runaways would be full of lies and disappointment. The only thing she was worried about was meeting more of her own kind. Witches terrified her, her mother really had messed her up big time. The unknown, I think is what scared her most of all. The fact that she could not predict how and when they would hurt her; emotionally or physically.

She disappeared into the mass of people almost instantly. Simon stood on his tiptoes but shook his head in defeat. "No use, she'll come find us when she gets bored. I guess we're on our own now."

I flipped through the pamphlets that were given to us when we arrived to the fair. "Well, there are plenty of rides. They have a Ferris wheel, games, Oh! There is a theater program." Derek leaned over my shoulder to read the headline. "It's a comedy/musical. '_Race to the Moon.' _Hmm. Must be a local High-school drama club thing."

"Well that doesn't start for a good three hours." Derek said scratching his head. "And the concert isn't till it gets dark. So we can kill time on some of these rides." He looked around quickly, trying to appear normal as he looked for the easiest escape routes if needed.

"I'd say keep away from the kiddy

rides, their next to the petting zoo. Don't want to start a stampede Do u D?" Simon laughed pointing to the crudely drawn map on the pamphlet. "Oh boy, look the hoops game!" Simon said pointing towards the win a prize game.

"I'm going to grab something to eat." Derek said behind me.

Simon grabbed my shoulder. "Okay we won't be long." Simon said pulling me away towards the game. I looked back at Derek whose face was frozen. I didn't know if I should be worried or what, but all I knew was that the minute I got Derek alone I was going to find out what.

…

It was rather hilarious watching Simon score one hoop after another. The guy behind the counter looked a little shocked, asking if he was on the High School Basket Ball team.

"No, gave it up." Simon laughed sinking the last basket. "More of an art geek."

Simon handed me the strange stuffed animal he had won and gestured to the food carts. I looked around; it was quick to pick Derek out of a crowd seeing how tall he was. "No thanks, I'm going to make sure Derek's okay." He nodded but I saw a bit of the spark leave his eyes as he turned to find the right line. I saw Derek leaning against a low brick wall, it took me a bit longer to realize he wasn't alone.

It suddenly hit me that there were three other people talking to him. There was a short biker looking boy and a very skinny girl hanging off him, then another girl who was far too close to Derek. She turned out to be none other than that Angie girl from the other day.

I stopped. I couldn't just go walking up to Derek and put on another show to get her to back off. I still wasn't sure on how Derek was feeling. However, I could not let her just move in and think she owned the place…wow. Hang out with a werewolf to long and you start to get predatory thoughts.

Derek saw me and winked. That was a good sign. I bit my lip and then shoved all my insecurities to the back of my mind. I walked over trying to put as much of a 'pep' in my step as I saw necessary.

She didn't see me at first, so I was able to come in on the conversation."…you should've been there, the movie was very scary. It would have been nice to have someone there I knew. There was a party afterwards, plenty of drinks."

"Well that would explain why you didn't come to school the next day." Derek said looking at me and not her.

"Ah, so you were worried about me huh?" Angie said a bit too fresh for my taste.

"And who would you be?" The biker boy said leaning forward to have a good look at me. "Love the glasses, babe." He smiled, his eyes wandering. "The mousy little nerd look. Very sexy." The girl on his arm looked up at him, angry at first and then she smiled as she looked at me. I know you are not suppose to judge people right away but I knew instantly: These people were just plain weird. Angie turned around her face twisted in anger.

"Hey there." I said waving at Angie and her snarling face. I looked at Derek, "Simon went to get some food." I said holding up the big Wiley coyote looking dog he had won. "Any sign of Tori?"

"It's only been a half n hour. I'd say that we'll run into her again in a few hours." He smiled, I saw his eyes shift faintly from calm to predatory and back again. I felt my heart sink. This was a bad idea. He should not have agreed to come, he should have stayed home where he could Change and get it over with. This wasn't good. "Saved you some." Derek smiled holding up a frozen lemonade.

He handed me the cup and put his arm around me. I felt all his barriers instantly fall as he pulled me closer to him. The familiar warmth from him broke my train of thought for a few seconds and I had to blink back a wave of emotion. I could tell the way his thumb slowly stoked my shoulder, and the level of his breathing, it was like nothing had bad had happened. Angie looked at me, her eyes narrowing. That would be the second time I had entered and interrupted her talking to Derek.

I guess I just had good timing.

"Great." I said leaning my head on his chest and allowing myself to enjoy the sound of his heart beat.

"So this is your girl, Derek?" The biker boy laughed. "Tough luck Angie." He said pushing her shoulder and knocking her off guard. "I'm Justin. This is Kimie." He said winking at me.

"Chloe." I smiled.

"Oh, Chloe. I like that. Goes with your glasses, again sexy." Justin said under his breath. Kimie kicked him hard nearly kicking his groin. He reached up and was about to adjust my glasses when Derek's hand slapped his out of the way. I grabbed Derek's hand and forced it to his side to avoid any more conflict. His eyes were no longer human. I could see the wolf coming to the surface. Red flag. Not good. Not good.

Justin wasn't even fazed. "It's all good." He started to laugh not looking at Derek but at Kimie. He didn't even realize how much danger he had put himself in. He waved at me and then let Kimie pull him away from us. He was still laughing as she dragged him away from me and towards the rides. Angie watched them leave as Simon walked up with some French fries.

He noticed right away the tension in the air. Eyeing Derek cautiously. "Hey who's your friend?" Simon said looking at Angie who was still standing too close to Derek. Unwilling to back off. I lightly stepped on Derek's foot, hard enough to get his attention. He blinked and quickly shook his head, before looking down at me and taking a deep breath. His eyes slowly returned to normal.

Angie glared at Simon and without a word; she walked away after her friends. Simon looked confused.

"Was it something I said?" He said offering me a French fry.

"No. She's just upset that I'm not interested." Derek mumbled.

"Got another girl chasing you, D? You poor thing." Simon sighed looking away. We'll I've got my fix on the games. How about some rides?" He said stuffing his mouth with food and winked at me. "You two getting along?" He said focusing on Derek's arm around me.

Derek laughed catching us both of guard. "Come on, while were still young." He said pulling me along with him towards the nearest ride. I looked back at Simon but he was focused on something in the crowd so I couldn't see his face.

My gut was telling me something was about to happen. And my gut instinct has never failed me before.

Yey for Necro-Spidey Senses…not

…

Simon stumbled off the exit ramp laughing so hard Derek had to help him up when he slipped and fell. "Did you see his face?" He shouted at me. I tried hard to hide my smile from Derek who was growling at Simon's outburst.

"Cut it out. I don't like those spinning metal carts. They don't feel like their bolted right. It feels like it's going to go flying." Derek growled as he yanked Simon to his feet.

"Excuses, Excuses. You looked like you were going to throw up!" Simon said holding his stomach.

"Keep it up and when I do I'll make sure to aim towards you." Derek barked a smile coming to his face. We had been going from ride to ride, and any bad atmosphere that was left had vanished almost instantly. It was as if we were just ordinary kids having fun at the County Fair. And for the moment, that's all we were.

Derek shoved Simon's shoulder when he continued to laugh which only made Simon fall down again. This time I raced forward to help him up. "Don't know your own strength?" I smiled at Derek who jokingly flexed his arm. It was almost intoxicating, so easy to let go and just have fun. Even Derek who was normally the last one to break out of fight or flight mode, was caught up in the laughter and excitement around him.

"Ha! Let's ride that one again. This time I'm taking a picture." Simon said straightening up. Derek shook his head trying to catch up to Simon who was already pushing his way through the crowd.

"Wait here. I'll go get him." Derek said, for the first time in days I saw him acting carefree and happy. It was a great feeling. Only hours ago, we had been shouting at each other. Now it was like we never had fought. I held on tight to Simon's coyote doll. Maybe this had been a good idea.

"Hey there!"

I jumped when Tori tapped me on the shoulder.

"Tori! Where have you been?" I said smiling looking back quick to see if Derek and Simon were on their way back.

"Oh you know. Here and there." She smiled, "Chasing boys, and making them buy me food and games. You know for being a corn-field County fair, there sure is a lot here. Where are the boys?"

"Derek went after Simon who got swallowed by the crowd." I said getting on my tiptoes trying to find Derek. He was so far off now that I couldn't even see him. "Chasing boys huh? What about that boy toy Football player?"

"Oh," She waved her hand in the air like she was swatting flies, "he dumped me two days ago. Doesn't matter. He was boring. I am on the prowl again. Nothing serious, who knows when we'll be abandoning this town anyway."

"Ah." I looked at her worried but she smiled at me trying to convince me that she was fine. "Any good finds?" I asked going along with her banter.

"Oh I found a guy all right." She winked. "He bought me lunch. He's older, about 21. But he's a sweetheart. Easy to manipulate." She wiggled her eyebrows smiling wide. "Only for the day though, he travels with his job. I am going to meet up with him before the concert. Make him buy me dinner, which should make this day worth it. I would've brought him with me if he didn't have to get ready for his job. He works for some of the entertainment here."

"Oh." I smiled. "That's good-."

**BANG!**

Me and Tori froze. Simon's coyote doll falling to ground.

I felt the faint buzz in the air, as something seemed to explode above us. All the life had disappeared from Tori's face, replaced by fear and anger. Our party was over.

The ground started to tremble. Moreover, in unison all the lights to all the rides and lamps exploded at once, going out. It wasn't that dark out yet but the absence of lights threw the crowds into a frenzy. There was screaming and shouting coming from everywhere. An off distant siren taking effect that only made the crowds screams intensify.

Tori grabbed my hand with a death grip. I held on just as tight and tugged her towards the center of grounds. "Derek and Simon went this way!" I shouted as loud as I could so Tori could hear. We struggled through the crowd. People were going every which way, no one knowing where to go. We were being pushed and shoved from every direction.

"DEREK?" I screamed. "SIMON!" but no matter how hard I shouted, it was no use. Derek or Simon were nowhere to be seen. Oh no.

I looked at Tori whose eyes were darting through the crowd trying to spot them. She focused on me. "What should we do?" I asked her.

"The car. Head to the car." Tori said, her face white, turning around and tugging me the other way. I felt my throat close as the buzz of magic became overwhelming. I looked around. Trying to find the source of the supernatural presence. This wasn't good. Another Bang from over head was enough for people to start scattering. It no longer was a stampeding crowd that we had too fight threw. It was a battlefield.

They were mistaking the bangs for gunfire. Therefore, everyone was taking shelter as quick as they could. Tori paced slowed and I ran into her. She stopped and I starred at her. The crowd was so thin now and the screams so faint that the danger of the situation hit both of us hard. Taking my breath away, the adrenaline rushing through my veins and made me feel like I had ran a marathon.

"Tori…" I said as quietly as I could, She looked back at me. "It's gotten dark….it's only five. It doesn't get this dark till sundown." She nodded. "This isn't normal."

"No." Tori said her mouth dry. She looked around. It was almost pitch black. As if someone had blocked out the sun around the county fairgrounds in a matter of minutes. I turned around desperately trying to find Derek and Simon. If we were together, I wouldn't be so terrified. The fact that we were separated was clouding my thoughts. I couldn't think straight.

Just then, I felt the buzz in the air again. I looked at Tori who didn't seem fazed by the new presence. Couldn't she feel it?

"We need to hide." I said pulling Tori away from the open and towards the outskirts. As we ran passed the abandoned foot carts I could hear footsteps coming from the other side. We froze and started to edge away from the carts when I saw a shadow off in the distance. I felt my throat close for a second, and stopped Tori. I knew I had found the source for the buzz from earlier. Whoever was behind the food carts was a lot less dangerous than the figure in the distance. The only problem was this shadow was blocking the only clean cut path to the parking lot.

We started to walk along the food carts again, hoping that whoever was behind them was just another frightened fair goer. We peaked into the small space between two carts. There was a person there, he saw us, The only light was to the back of him, so he could see us but we couldn't see him. "_Tori?" _ The person whispered. Both me and Tori looked at each other.

I stopped at the last cart, and we both hesitated, slowly glancing behind the cart. From this distance, all I could tell was that the figure looked male. He saw us and waved us in. A flashlight in his one hand, and a strange device almost what looked like one of the hulky first cell phones in the other.

"Tori! What's happening?" I didn't recognize his voice so it must have been one of Tori's friends. He ran forward, Tori didn't let go of my hand as she pulled me towards him. She grabbed his arm. Red Flag. That was strange for Tori.

"Your allright?" She smiled at him.

"Yea, when all the ruckus started someone told me that someone was shooting a gun near the Ferris wheel. You said you were going to find your brothers near the Ferris wheel and…" He started to ramble and he caught himself. I tried to squint but it was too dark to see his face clearly. All I could assume was that this was Tori's new "guy" friend she had picked up today.

"Oh isn't that sweet?" Tori said sarcastically, her smile not quite reaching her eyes . "Come on, were sitting ducks back here." She grabbed his hand and dragged him along with us. A newfound authority and strength was obvious in Tori's face. She looked at me, I smiled faintly and she returned the gesture.

"We need to find shelter. If there's a madman with a gun out there, we need to hide."Tori's friend said walking slightly ahead, I was shocked to see Tori let him take charge.

"A Madman with a gun is the least of our worries." I said, I bit my lip, I meant to whisper that to Tori not say it out loud. He looked my way he just realized I was there.

"Oh, Hi-" he started but Tori yanked hard and pointed us towards the ticket booth shed. He was about to step out from the cover of the food carts when I reached up and grabbed the back of his shirt. He looked back after being pulled back twice, his mouth open about to say something when I held up my finger to my mouth. I pointed to the entrance. The shadowy figure was making its way towards us.

Tori nodded as she accessed the situation. The figure hadn't noticed us yet, and if we were quiet then eventually it would pass us. We watched wide eyed as the figure walked closer and closer. Once they were literally five feet from our hiding-hole a strange feeling creep over me. I was right to assume that this person was part of the ruckus. The air around them was vibrating with energy making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

And then the figure was gone. Heading down the way they had came.

Tori's friend raised his hand and held up three fingers. We both understood right away. On the count of three…

_One…. _

_Two…_

We Scrambled towards the shed a quiet as possible. Me and Tori knew how to do it by instinct now, and his footsteps shook me. The door opened with a very audible creak which made all three of us wince. We hurried inside and tried to shut the door without making any more noise.

I suddenly realized that I had been holding my breath the _entire_ time we had been making our way from the carts. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with how dizzy I was and did not realize I was falling until I felt someone's hand around my arm pulling me up.

…..

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERES. READ MORE KELLY ARMSTRONG!**

**Sorry for the absence. Hopefully going to upload a bunch of chapters at once to make up for lost time.**

**Kind of went through all the fair really fast cause I was bored of how slow the story was going and I just wanted to get to some action. So that's why this chapter is rushed. Sorry try to forgive me and my impatience but the longer version was just too much nothing and I felt it just went into many chapters. I really only want this story to be under 20chapters. And I just needed the fair as an excuse to get them out of the house and introduce my next character.**

**Please review**


	7. Chapter 7: Panic

"You okay?" I looked up into the newcomers face. He flicked his flashlight on, it was surprisingly dull but there was just enough light for me too clearly see. He had almost army short brown hair, and bright blue eyes. He smiled reassuringly as he offered his hand to hold me upright.

"I'm fine." I said breathlessly as Tori rushed over. "I just….It was uncomfortable to breathe around that—person out there. I didn't realize I was holding my breath." Tori looked at me worried but quickly turned her attention to her friend.

"That was reckless. Didn't anyone tell you that your suppose to run the other way when someone starts firing a gun?" Tori growled barely over a whisper. We had to be careful just in case the figure came back.

"I was just doing my job..." he started, "Didn't I tell you I went to school thinking I was going to be a cop? Didn't pan out though, not interesting enough."

"Word of advice, don't run threw gunfire to save a girl you just met." Tori snapped. But I have to give this guy credit, he had made enough of impression in such a short amount of time that Tori actually looked truly concerned. I shuffled my feet to remind her I was still there. The fact that I had no idea of who this guy was had me on edge."Oh, sorry Chloe. This is Jack, the guy I told you about. Jack, Chloe."

"Oh, the sweetheart?" I said remembering what she had said earlier. Tori's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, no time for jokes." I said pushing away from Jack and trying to clear my head.

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked Tori.

"She's fine. She's just a bit fragile sometimes." She said slowly moving towards one of the small windows. "We need to find Derek and Simon. Whoever that was that passed us…They mean business."

"It's probably just a random shooting." Jack said fiddling with the strange device in his hand. "If we hide out till the cops get here we'll be fine." But I heard it, and so did Tori. Jack was hiding something. I'd seen it in countless movies. Jack knew more than he was telling us.

Tori turned around and looked at him cautiously. I moved towards the door. My hand reaching out to a broom in the corner.

"What did you say….your job was again?" Tori said worried. Jack looked up at us and suddenly realized the change in atmosphere.

"I'm part of the theater program here. You know the play? Race to the moon? I play one of the army men…" He looked worried, and I don't blame him, Tori's glare wasn't that friendly.

"Then what is that in your hand?" Tori asked.

He looked down at the device. "It's nothing. Uh…just a…"

"Bullshit." Tori said and quicker than he expected grabbed the device out of his hand and pushed him against the wall. I handed the broom to her. Not that threatening of a weapon, but the shaft was made of metal, and in the hands of a witch, metal was a great conductor.

She handed me the device which I turned in my hand trying to discover if it was dangerous.

"Oh boy." Tori said her face twisted with new found anger. "You better start telling the truth. I'm already having a very bad day. You don't want to make it worse."

Jack raised his hands slowly. He didn't seem that worried that we could hurt him. "Calm down Tori. I'm not going to hurt you!" He hissed. "Just put the broom down and we'll talk about this."

Tori didn't move. I held the device closer to my face trying to read the small screen. "What does this meter mean?" I said glaring at him. "It looks like it's measuring something…"

"I didn't want to tell you cause I didn't want you to laugh at me." Jack said shaking his head a bit ashamed. "It measures the different wave lengths and energy patterns in the surrounding area."

"And what in the hell would you be doing with that?" Tori snapped.

"The real reason I'm here…" He sighed. "I'm with a group that is traveling around the country trying to understand the strange weather patterns, earthquakes and phenomenon like the one that just happened here. This was dedicated a hotspot by my boss so a few others and me came here to investigate."

"How in the world would you be able to pin point such a small location?" I asked coming closer to him.

"We believe the strange events are because of…" He looked at Tori, you could tell that he really wanted Tori to think better of him. "Paranormal activity. That's what I am. A Paranormal investigator."

Tori did laugh. As loud as was possible for just our ears to hear. "Are you fricken kidding me?"

"Yea yea get your laughs in." He growled back I could tell just by the dim light coming in that he was blushing.

"Your shitting me. You're a _Paranormal Investigator _huh? Like Ghostbusters and shit?" Tori said her face returning to its normal bitchy self. I looked him up and down very quick trying hard to sense if he was anything more than human. But there was nothing. He was all Human. But that didn't mean he wasn't a threat.

"No, not just ghosts." He said holding his hand out for his device. I looked at Tori who took a deep breath and lowered her broom. Slowly I handed the device back to him. "We believe in other paranormal entities. But were more interested in the ones that are actually harmful. Those that are a danger to society. There is a fault line in the earth's crust nearby the fairgrounds, where many paranormal occurrences have been happening. We were trying to track the strange activity."

I could feel the humor in this situation being sucked from the room in an instant. I could tell that Tori realized too how dangerous this could be. Just what we needed, someone who actually believed in the supernatural and was hunting it down. Luck was just never on our side. "I know, you think I'm crazy. But these events are just too abnormal to be coincidence." 

"Believe me." Tori said her voice getting lower. "We don't think you're crazy." She looked away from him. I tried to see her face but she was hiding it from me too. I returned my gaze to Jack who was looking at his device confused.

"I don't understand." He whispered. "It's going crazy." He hit it against his hand trying to see if that fixed it. Then putting it to his ear to see if he could hear a loose wiring or something.

"OH!" I said my hand flying to my mouth. My sudden realization became the perfect change of topic. "Tori! Derek's cell phones!" I felt my heart sink as I realized that I didn't have mine with me…it was in the car…damn it…."I don't have mine. Do you have yours!"

Tori reached for her back pocket and pulled out the phone and flipped it open. "_DAMN!_ It's about to die." She hissed tossing the phone to me. I dialed Derek's number and prayed that the phone lasted….it didn't even make it to the second ring.

"No No No!" I said shaking the phone. Violence and technology don't mix. I looked at Jack, "Do you have a phone?"

"No. It would be handy right now though…it's been reported that batteries and other electric devices are drained easily in these active hotspots. Ghost can steal the energy out of-." He started; just then, another bang erupted outside. I rushed to the window. Derek and Simon were out there somewhere….and unlike us, hiding away. They would still be looking for us.

Just then, someone came into view. Even though all I could make out was a silhouette, I was confident that it was the same mysterious person from earlier. Only because I felt the chill up my spine return along with the thick air. They were coming back. Jack pulled us away from the window.

"Best to keep low." He said kneeling to the ground.

"We need to find Derek and Simon now. They're going to be looking for us." Tori said. She starred up at the window above her head. I could literally hear the gears and cogs turning in her head. She waited, biting her lip as she calculated something. She opened her mouth slowly, and in complete confidence said, "I think I can take that guy."

"_Are you crazy!"_ Jack hissed his eyes wide.

"Yes." Both Tori and I said at the same time.

I shook my head. "Listen Tori…" I looked at Jack trying to figure out how to word what I needed to tell her without giving away to much information. She caught me looking at him and growled.

"For the love of god, we don't have time for this!" She hissed back at me. "Its fight or flight time now, Chloe. We cannot keep hiding in here and wait for the bad guys to give up and go on their merry way. Cause I can tell by your face that these people are after one thing and one thing only: You." She grabbed my shoulder in all seriousness. "Husht can deal with the mess when were safe. For the time being, Jack is coming with us, we'll find a way to keep his mouth shut later."

I looked back at Jack who looked very much confused. This was a great big mess we had got ourselves in. Not only were we about to blow our cover and have to leave our home again. We now had a hostage…..grrrrreeeeaaatttt…

But I found it hard to talk freely with him there. We had barely met him. For all we knew he was one of the bad guys….Or worse Jack could be a completely innocent human being whose life was about to get ruined by yours truly. I didn't think we would have a problem taking Jack back with us, Derek could be pretty convincing. It was the fact that once he learned too much….what would Husht have to do?

I wondered why Tori didn't just knock this guy out. One spell and he'd be out cold, but I guess then he'd be at the mercy of who ever are shadowy creeper was.

I bit my tongue. If we were going to get out of this unscathed, me and Tori needed to be able to get our stories straight. "Okay. That's not a wizard." I said looking back at Tori who looked shocked and confused. "Don't ask me how I know, I just do. He doesn't feel like Simon or Kit or even you. It's more like Dr. Davidoff. This guy is a half-demon, he has to be."

She starred at me opened mouthed. "How-." She stopped and shook her head. "Okay, forget how. A half-demon…right. That would make sense, if there **is** a demon after you-Dad told me the story—Then this might not be good. But I still think I can get the jump on him. One spell and he's out." She looked back at the window. "I take him out; we've got a good ten minutes before anyone realizes it, if there are more of them. We get to the car and pray that Derek and Simon meet us there."

I looked over at Jack to gauge his reaction. His eyes were wide, but he was listening intent on Tori and mine's every word. "You." Tori said pointing at Jack. "You are going to come with us."

"Fine." He said, Tori blinked but didn't fuss about it.

She stood up and peaked out the window. "He's too close for us to leave now. If we open that creaky old door he's sure to hear it." She snapped. "Damn." I stood up and looked in the direction she was looking. He was too close….But that's when I saw it. A new shadow was creeping up towards the mysterious figure. But this one was different….It was low to the ground and moved liked an animal.

"Derek." I breathed out a long sigh of relief as I felt weight falling off me as all the fear I had been building up. The sudden panic all around him must have become overwhelming and Derek couldn't keep in his Human skin any longer. "How do we tell him were here?" I said looking at Tori. Tori looked at Jack and then back at me.

"Don't worry. That mutt could sniff you out from a sweaty smelly comic book convention." She smiled. Jack looked over her shoulder.

"You guys brought your dog to the fair?" He said looking towards Derek's slow moving shape.

"Wouldn't leave home without him." Tori said, I could tell that Derek's sudden appearance had affected her too. She looked completely confident and carefree now. She grabbed Jack by the front collar of his shirt to get his attention. "Now listen. You've probably got a few hundred question's am I right?"

"Uh…" He wet his lips, nervous. "Well, yea. Wizards and half demons. You girls are either crazy or this I really serious."

"Both are true." Tori smiled. "Now I'm going to trust you for the next ten minutes, and believe me Jack that is something I never do. Once that guy out there is distracted, I'm going to shock him into next week. I'm trusting you to protect Chloe while I'm gone, if one hair is harmed on her head-you'll be breathing through a tube stuck down your nose for the rest of your life." Jack's eye's grew wide, A blind man could tell that Tori meant every word. "After that you two make your way towards the parking lot, don't wait for me. Me and Derek will be right behind you. Don't stop for anything. If Derek is here then Simon isn't that far off. His spells might not be a good as mine, but they should hold anything at bay till me and Derek catch up."

She looked at me to make sure I had the plan right. I nodded. The sudden realization returning that even with supernatural powers I was rather useless unless there was a cemetery nearby.

"Well that settles it then." Jack said his face turning to stone as he prepared himself for the escape. "I give you my word. I'll get her to the car safely."

"Good." Tori said keeping eye contact with him a bit longer than necessary. I walked over to Jack who put his hand on my shoulder.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be helping two witches fight a demon tonight. Blew my dinner plans right out the window, huh? Man, this is as exciting as it gets." Jack said looking down at me smiling.

"One, that's a half Demon out there. A full demon is much more terrifying. And two…what makes you think I'm a witch? If I were a witch I'd be out there fighting not running away."

"Soooo, then you're admitting that Tori IS a witch?" He said looking at Tori who wasn't listening and instead was waiting for Derek to make a move outside. I blinked up at him and started to open my mouth but he shushed me. "I'm not going to tell. I know how to keep a secret. I knew there was something odd about her when my meter started going off around her. But hot damn. A real life _witch! _Sorry if I seem excited."

I stared at him. This could be very bad or very good. Jack didn't know what he was getting himself into and from the look on his face everything about him seemed genuine. If he was acting he was one of the best and deserved the Oscar.

That's when we heard the footsteps stop directly outside out little shed. The handle jiggled and without warning or waiting for our soon to be attacker to attack Tori blasted the door off its hinges and knocked him back ten feet. We all rushed outside and I was hit by a sudden wave of power that literally drained all the warmth out of me.

The shadowy figure sprung to its feet and dashed towards Tori. A howl pierced the night sky from close by. Derek had heard and was coming to help.

Jack grabbed my arm and pulled me away from her. I faught him at first but then I saw Tori's spell hit the man square in the face. Tori would be fine. I turned my attention to where Jack was leading me. The parking lot. If we could get the car we would be able to get the heck out of here.

And that's when another figure stepped out of the shadows and blocked the way. I pleaded with my whole being that it was Simon or Derek. But I could tell even from this distance that he was too short to be Derek and had longer hair than Simon.

Jack and me skidded to a halt. The newcomer was still cast in shadows so it was too dark to see his face, but I could see his blinding white teeth smiling through the darkness. He raised his hand and the nearest wood sign came flying towards us.

"Shit!" Jack cursed as he dove to the ground pulling me with him. The sign missed us by only inches. I could hear our new assailant laughing. I scrambled to my feet bracing myself for the next attack. "What do we do?" Jack hissed as he protectively put his arm around me ready to push me out of the way if needed.

"I…I'm useless…" I whispered trying to think of a way to fight this thing off. He was a madman, and worse he was after me. And the only thing I had at my disposal…was buying us some time. I took a deep breath to recover myself. "Like playing games I see?" Jack made a motion for me to be quiet but I ignored it. Time to take control of the situation, wait for back up. Stay Confident.

"Games? This 'er ain't a game little girl. This 'er is life." He said with a very thick southern drawl. He keep his hand raised, but if I kept him talking…we had a chance.

"Well life sucks. And just so you know, you ruined a very great day. Way to crash in on my parade." I said taking a step away from Jack trying to show the newcomer that I wasn't afraid. "Didn't anyone tell you that you're suppose to relax and fun at the fair?"

"O' I am havin fun, lil missy." He chuckled. "This is my kind of fun." Great another sadistic psychopath, just my luck.

"What do you want exactly?" Jack spoke up. I elbowed him in the ribs. I really wish he hadn't, that is the last thing you ask when you're trying to distract your assailant. Because it reminds them that they've got a schedule to keep. Jack obviously didn't watch enough movies.

"All I want is the lil' girl. She's the reason for al'this ruckus."

"And you really think I'll come quietly?" I snapped. I felt warmth rise in my chest as I glimpsed Simon creeping towards us. Just keep him talking a bit longer…

"Ah shucks, It doesn't really matt'a how you act missy. If you 'aven't realized yet. I don't need you alive, dead is actually bet'a." I heard the power in his voice and for a second I felt something tug on my shirt propelling me forward. I didn't even have time to scream because whatever grabbed me was gone after only dragging me three feet. I stumbled but Jack grabbed me and pulled me back upright.

The man in front of us had moved too. I hadn't actually seen it, but Simon had thrown a spell at him that had missed. Simon came rushing forward to put himself in between the man and us. "Derek is helping Tori." He said looking at me before I had time to ask.

I stared at him, his face….it was Simon, but his face looked so alien. Full of anger and furry that I had never seen in his eyes before. It was so unsettling to see him that way.

"'Ow many of you little brats 're there?" The man growled, if he hadn't been before he was angry now. He raised his hand and we all waited for something to happen….but nothing did. For the first time I could almost see his face, and he looked more confused than we did.

Simon took the moment to dart forward shouting some incoherent spell that unlike the last one, hit it's target full in the chest. The man went flying forward and smashed into a food cart, leaving an indent where his body contacted. Even if he was a half-demon, he wasn't immortal. Derek's body could survive more than a normal human but he could still die. With the right hit, we'd be able to get out of this unscathed.

"Damn brats!" The man hissed as he fell to the ground rubbing his back. Simon hesitated hoping that the fight was over. But just then the man reached behind him and pulled out a gun. In unison, Jack, Simon and mine muscles tensed. Even in a supernatural fight, guns were an unfair advantage. "Now you listen 'er." He growled forcing himself upright and pointing the gun at Simon who was closest. "No more magic tricks. Got it Merlin?" Simon raised his hands in surrender. "Now that's a goo'boy. Turn around."

"No. Simon don't. He wants me-." I started but Simon did as he was told completely exposing his back. He looked into my eyes, I felt a shiver go down my spine as I stared back at him. I shook my head. "Simon don't." The click from the gun as the madman turned the safety off echoed in my ears. Switching something in my brain on as well. Was it panic?

"No, Chloe." Simon whispered. His eyes were haunting. This wasn't happening. Simon had a plan, he just had to. Any moment now he was going to turn around and blast that guy into the next millennium. Everything was going to be okay. Please. _PLEASE. _Let everything be okay.

The man aimed his gun at Simon's head. I started to move forward but Jack held me back. No. No. I wasn't going to let him do this. I yanked my arm out of Jacks grip. The man smiled, and at the last second he switched his target. His gun moved from Simon to me, and with no hesitation at all he pulled the trigger.

You know how in movies, this would be the moment when everything happens in slow motion to increase the tension? I'd have plenty of time to see everyone's reaction. See the smoke from the gun. Hear everyone scream my name as my death hurtled towards me and an unstoppable speed? Well my life was no movie. That kind of stuff never happens in real life. I saw him move his gun to me. I heard the earsplitting bang. I saw the black blur knock me to the ground, but it happened so fast that when I sat up I expected to see blood pouring out of my chest and crippling pain.

But there was no pain. No blood….at least not my own.

"No." I said faintly at first as I slowly pushed myself up. The black mass laying next to me let out a small whine as I pulled my leg out from under it. And that's when I saw the freshly soaked earth and the red liquid all over my leg.

Blood. Derek's Blood.

"NO!" I screamed, so loud that my throat throbbed. "NO! NO! NO!" I grabbed his head and cradled it in my arms as I looked for the bullet wound. I gingerly touched his fur my hand returned back dyed red. So much blood. Why was there so much blood? I felt Derek's head move in my lap and instantly returned my attention to him. One glowing green eye starred up at me through the mass of black fur. "You Fucking Idiot! Why'd you do that!" Tears were streaming fast down my face. He blinked at me and then made a very pathetic kind of yip. His eye darted away from me. And I followed his gaze.

Simon had taken the situation and turned it against the man with gun. I had looked up just in time to see Simon cast a difficult, and if I wasn't mistaken lethal spell. The man crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Jack grabbed my shoulder trying to lift me on to my feet. "Hurry we have to get to the car. Who knows how many more of those nut jobs there are." I yanked my arm out of his grip being as careful as could not to move Derek.

"NO! I won't leave him!" I shouted at Jack and I pulled off my jacket to wrap it around Derek's shoulder area. I couldn't find the wound, there was just too much fur and blood. I wouldn't be able to dress it till he transformed back.

If I hadn't been panicking before, I was now. I didn't even try to stop the tears as I cried and tried everything I could let Derek know I was there I was going to save him. Goddamn it! Why didn't I know what to do? Three years and I had no friggen idea what to do! I tried to apply pressure to where I was almost certain his wound was. But again with all the damn fur I wasn't sure. How could I have let this happen? I stared down, blurry eyed and sobbing.

This was the only person I had ever loved. Deeply. And it felt like I was going to lose him. Images started flashing before my eyes of all the times we had been together. Three years of complete happiness and I still felt empty. They were not enough. Three years of memories were not enough. There would never be enough.

I slowly caressed the fur above his forehead. If I lost him now, I was going to lose my whole future.

"Sweetie, I know it's hard. But I'm not going to let you risk your life for a dog. There's nothing we can do for him. If we move him he'll just bleed out. It's hard but-." Jacks long inspirational speech was cut off by Tori's sudden reappearance.

"I heard a gunshot, what happened?" She looked down and saw Derek's wolf cradled in my arms. And the blood all over me.

"…Der-Derek…is…is he?" Tears were already making their way to her eyes as she tried to overcome the wave of emotion, when Derek wagged his tail to let her know he was still alive. A sudden wave of relief was replaced by anger and rage. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT! WHAT THE _**HELL**_ DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING! IF YOU DON'T BLEED TO DEATH YOURSELF IM GOING TO STRANGLE THE GODDAMN LIFE OUT OF YOU!"

That's when the ground beneath our feet began to shake. Small at first. And then the tremor got larger and larger. Till my bones began to shake. Derek growled and tried to push himself up. He yelped and I grabbed him before he collapsed on the ground. Somewhere far off, an earsplitting crack like a lightning bolt made all of us jump. Tori swayed, it was too hard for her to stand upright. She nearly fell but Jack was able to grab and steady her.

Simon's face went cold as he looked down at the ground. His eyes wide. Out of all us, even me who was holding on to a bleeding and possibly dying Derek, he looked down right petrified.

Then it stopped. As quick and as suddenly as it had came, the earthquake or whatever it was, it disappeared. We didn't move at first just stared wide eyed at each other.

Derek whined and tried to stand up again. "Derek don't!" I said finding my voice. He swayed and landed on me, his head buried into hair. His breathing was becoming more panicked and labored.

"Goddamn it, brilliant time to get shot. DUMBASS!" Tori barked bending down to help me steady him. "Don't think it's smart to let him move on his own. If I could find the fricken bullet shot then I could mend the skin a bit at least to stop the f-ing bleeding. But there's too much blood." She hissed.

"We need to go now." Jack reminded us stepping back a bit from Tori. "Shouting is just going to bring them to us faster."

"Yea, great speech J.I. Joe." Simon said kneeling down and taking Derek out of my arms and getting a good grip on him. "Now use some of that muscle and help me lift this fat-ass." Simon looked at me his eyes completely serious and confident, completely different from only a minute earlier. "Don't worry Chloe. He's going to make it. He's too stubborn to die."

I looked down at Derek. His eyes were on me, I could see the pain he was in, he smiled or as close as he could with his wolf form. "You hold on okay?" He blinked. I took that as a: _yes m'am. _I took all my fear, and pushed it to the back of mind. If Derek wasn't afraid, neither was I. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"You're going to risk your lives for your pet?" Jack said but he still bent down and grabbed the lower half of Derek, lifting him up.

"From what you just saw Simon and Tori do, and what you saw that psycho capable of doing, do you really think that he's just a dog?" I snapped at him reaching out and stroking Derek's muzzle. Derek whined and wagged his tail.

"Well when you put it that way," He said his face growing worried, "I guess not."

"Tori, I left Derek's cloths over there. The keys to Buick should be in his pocket." Simon said motioning with his head. Tori ran off and returned moments later with Derek's cloths and the keys dangling from her finger.

…

We all jammed into the small car the best we could. Tori took the driver's seat and Simon made Jack sit in the back with me, Derek was sprawled across both our laps.

"Okay, here's the plan." Tori shouted as she fired up the car and speed out the parking field and onto the deserted country highway. "Get as far away from here as possible. At a safe distance, we pull over and get Derek out. Make him change back and have me and Chloe dress his wound."

"We need to call Kit." I said from the back seat still holding Derek as close to me as possible.

"Oh right. And call Dad. My phone is dead, Simon?" Tori said her voice full of dread pushing her foot even more on the accelerator.

"Dead. So is Derek's."

I reached under the seat where my phone had been kicked in all the excitement. Flipped it open and let out a sigh of relief. It still had half it's charge. "Mines good." I noticed that there were ten missed calls, one from Simon and nine from Derek. I handed it to Simon.

"Okay. Get some distance. Change. Then call Dad." Tori said and I could hear her mumbling the plan over and over again to herself to keep herself calm. "HOW THE HELL DID HE GET SHOT!" Tori screamed suddenly, banging her hands on the steering wheel and making everyone in the car, even the half-conscious Derek, jump.

"He jumped in front of a bullet for Chloe." Simon said his eyes focused on Derek, for the first time in a long time I saw the old Simon completely genuine looking down at his wounded foster brother. Good. This was the Simon I knew.

"Well that makes f-ing sense. Always the romantic aren't you Derek. Protecting his precious little Chloe. I don't know if you know this asshole but in the story, Romeo dies! Do you-."

"Don't say that!" I shouted at her. She looked at me in the review mirror. "He's going to be fine." I looked down at him, he opened his eyes faintly to acknowledge that he heard me but they quickly closed again. He won't die. He can't die. I keep repeating those words to myself. However, as I did I was reminded by the fact that he was not immortal. I had no idea how to help him.

"His kind doesn't die so easily." Simon said reaching back and putting a hand on Derek's head. His tail wagged pathetically. "He'll be up and barking orders at us in no time." But Simon's words became the trigger and Derek let out a painful yelp.

All of a sudden, Derek started to spasm out of control.

"SHIT!" Jack shouted as he tried to gain control of Derek's legs to stop his claws from digging into his skin. But it just made it worse. I felt something sharp cut through my pants and shirt. Derek's body wasn't going to wait anymore. This car was too small for him to change back, at least if me and Jack wanted to keep from being shredded to ribbons. We needed to get out of this car.

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**

**Going to keep posting. Ive got the next chapter almost done as well so it should be up rather quickly. Didn't want to leave the chapter in another cliffy but it would've been to long. Enjoy anyway. :3**

**Review pretty plz! **


	8. Chapter 8: Mine

What had been our symbol of safety only seconds before was becoming lethal for me and Jack. The car was too small. And Derek was just too big. In addition, his claws were leaving faint but painful cuts on Jack's skin and mine. A sudden wave of terror gripped me as I remembered Derek talking to me as if from a dream. That being infected with werewolf blood was almost as dangerous as being bitten.

And Derek's blood, was everywhere.

"TORI PULL OVER!" I screamed as I felt the pain from Derek's claws leave more cuts on my arms and stomach. Tori scrambled turning the wheel and pulling over on the abandon road. The car bounced as it ran over unlevel ground. Derek's sharp fangs came very close to my hand as he howled in pain. His wound must have complicated his change; normally he did not have to put up with this pain changing back.

Once the car came to a complete stop, Simon rushed out of and flung open my door. With Simon's help, we were able to restrain Derek enough to pull him out of the car and onto the ground. Derek spine made a very audible crack that made Jack swear.

"TORI!" I snapped quickly taking my shirt off which made everyone stare at me like I gone mad. "Are there water bottles in the trunk?"

"Wh-what are you-." She started. But stopped when I rushed over and grabbed Jack's shirt and tried to do the same to it. "What the hell-."

"TORI HURRY!" I yanked on Jack's shirt he looked at me like I was crazy. "Take your shirt off goddamn it! Your covered in werewolf blood and in fresh cuts! If you let the blood get into your system, you'll be the one sprouting ears and a tail!" That made everyone stop short and Jack pulled his shirt off without question after that, his eyes wide.

Tori opened the trunk and hefted up a huge case out of the back. Thank god we had forgotten to unpack it last grocery trip. She ripped it open and handed me a bottle, Simon came over and grabbed one as well. I poured the bottle down Jacks chest and arms, discarding it when it was empty and reaching for a new one. As I did that, Simon started doing the same thing to me. Pouring the water gently down my arm and stomach, focusing on every cut, and rinsing it until it was clean.

"Damn it." Jack hissed as I keep up my tedious work. "That would've been valuable information to give me BEFORE I got into the backseat."

"Shut up and let me work." I said throwing another bottle to the ground and reaching for the one in Tori's hand. "Tori help Derek. I'm almost done." I gave Jack one more go around with the water. "Don't worry, we caught it fast enough. It takes a lot of blood to infect someone. And these cuts for the most part are very small." I looked up at him. He looked terrified. "It's going to be okay. What did get in will go through your system pretty quickly; you might have a bit of a headache though."

"So unless you get an intense craving for raw meat and chasing cars in the next two hours. Your good. Take two Advil and call Doctor Chloe in the morning." Simon laughed as he rubbed his hand over my wet arm. Jack looked at him the fear fading very slowly from his face.

"He's going to be fine." I said my breathing returning to a somewhat normal state. I started to look at the damage Derek's claws had done to my torso as a shiver ran over me. I looked down at my shirt but it was drenched in blood on the ground and wouldn't be a good idea to put it back on. The sudden realization that I was standing by the side of the road half-naked hit me. My face turned beat red as I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to hide my bra. "Y-you're going to be f-f-fine, Jack. He's just j-joking."

"Oh." Simon said his eyes growing wide as he realized why I was shivering. "Got it." He took off his thin jacket and then the oversized plaid shirt he had been wearing that had escaped damage. He quickly put it over my shoulders and rubbed my back. "There ya go." He winked. Still blushing I put my arms into the long sleeves, rolling them up a bit before buttoning it up.

My attention then turned to Derek sprawled on the ground. My heart skipped a beat as I saw his body contorting and shifting in a very painful and inhuman manor. I fell to the ground beside him and tried to rub his neck as I use to do to calm him down.

Slowly his face and body started to mold itself into something more human. Shoulders snapped back into place and his fur slowly began to retract leaving patches of skin in places.

Tori reached into the car and pulled out his cloths. Keeping her eyes averted.

"Well, I can take witches and wizards. Demons and what-not. But _werewolves? _Are you fricken KIDDING ME!" Jack said taking a few steps back and running his hands through his short hair nervous. "A werewolf? Oh my god, and I was…Oh boy, if I knew he was a person I wouldn't have called him a dog. He isn't going to-."

"Calm down Jack." Tori said pulling him behind her. "I call him a mutt all the time, he's not going to get angry for you calling him a dog."

I grabbed Derek's hand the minute it was recognizable and held it tight. Simon was busy trying to pull his boxers on while his legs started to return to their normal shape. 

"Just realizing, I never actually saw him do that." Tori said her face red. "Not going to lie, I could've lived happily without this experience."

"It's almost over. The change back is always fast." I said, as gently as I could inspecting what was becoming more and more clearly where he had been shot. It was his shoulder. I looked up into his face, his transformation completely over. His skin pale and covered with dry and wet blood. And there was a thick layer of sweat over his body. His eyes were closed. I put my hand on his neck, and felt his pulse. I felt it almost instantly; his heartbeat was extremely rapid.

I reached up peaked under his eye-lid. He had passed out. "He's out cold." I said grabbing my coat and applying pressure to the gunshot wound. I reached for a bottle of water and started to wash off what I could of the blood on his chest. "Tori?"

"I got it." Tori said coming down on one knee so she was level with me. "Jack, Simon grab his arm and leg. Dad told me this might sting a bit, and knowing him he's going to lash out." The two did as they were told, I tried to let go of his hand but he had me in death grip. Good. He had to be somewhat conscious.

"Now, if you can hear me mutt, this isn't normal witch magic. Our powers are meant more for fighting not healing. But because I'm not average, I've got a bit of an advantage. Therefore, I cannot heal but I can painlessly as possible burn the skin around the wound to seal it from more bleeding. It is this or you bleed to death. The choice is yours."

Derek's eyes fluttered and he tried to say something but none of us could understand it. "Derek?" I said getting closer. He mumbled again and squeezed my hand hard. I bit my lip, before looking at Tori and nodding. She took a deep breath and put her hand over the maimed skin.

Her hand started to glow faintly, as if there was a flashlight under her hand. Then I smelled burning flesh. Derek's eyes flung open and he bit off a string of curses. Simon put his hand hard on his chest and tried to keep Derek pinned to the ground. It didn't work. Derek shot up knocking everyone off him. Except me, his hand tight around mine, to the point that it hurt.

"GODDAMNIT TORI!" Derek screamed. Clutching his chest where there was a massive burn mark the size and shape of Tori's hand. "_PAINLESSLY _as possible!" He looked at her breathing hard.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't going to hurt, jerk." She hissed getting to her feet quickly after being knocked off balance by him. He starred up at her and then back at the mark on his shoulder. His sudden surge of adrenaline faded and his movements became slower. After giving himself a good look over, he glanced up at me, Simon, and Jack. All three of us starring at him curiously.

"Sorry." He mumbled as he tried to stand up.

"Oh no you don't!" I hissed pushing him back down. He looked at me his eyes a bit off focused. The only way I could describe it, is that he looked intoxicated. His words were a bit slow and slurred and his balance was completely off. The blood loss had gone to his head. "You just lost a good third of your blood, Mister! You're not moving till I say so!"

"Yea bro, just cool it and take a breather. How's your shoulder feel?" Simon said grabbing Derek's pants off the ground and trying to get his feet through the legs.

"My shoulder…" Derek mumbled scratching his head slowly.

"Yea your shoulder. Where you just got shot? Try and keep up with me Derek, I thought you were intelligent." Simon laughed still a bit shaky from the experience as he tried to dress his almost naked brother without success. He only managed to get the jeans half way up.

"M'fine…" Derek hummed his lips twitch as he smiled goofily at him. "M'fur is really thick…built in bulletproof vest I guess, slowed the bullet down…Missed anything important. The bullet didn't go thru though, it's lodged in my shoulder bone." He winced as he tried to move his wounded shoulder and arm. "Don't think that was a good idea." He blinked as if he was trying to clear his vision. "My heads all fuzzy."

"You lost a lot of blood. You're going to be incoherent for awhile."I said my voice cracking. Oh my god. He was okay. He was alive. My chest began to warm instantly as I began to realize it.

His eyes shifted to me. "Hey." He smiled the most ridiculous smile I had ever seen him do. It was contagious because I found myself smiling back at him. He reached over with his other hand and wiped the tears off my face. I didn't even realize I had started crying again. "Hey hey, everything's okay now…no mo'crying…'at's my girl." His words slurring together.

"Why'd you do that, idiot?" I said reaching up and touching his hand, my head was becoming fuzzy as the realization that he was going to be okay keep hitting me over and over again like a fifty-pound weight.

"Cause 'ur my girl." He said covering my mouth with his thumb so I couldn't talk anymore. "'N' no-one, hurts my girl." Oh god, he was so pathetically amazing. I didn't think I could get enough of that dumbass grin on his face. I had seen soft and caring Derek before, but this was just ridiculous. Derek was so reserved. He never smiled like that, or talked like that.

"Aww isn't that just romantic." Tori said reaching over and patting Derek's head. "Sorry to cut in, big boy but we can't stay here much longer. Do you think it's safe to move him?" She looked to Simon and then Jack. Jack looked around and then back at Derek.

"He's pretty pale." He said worried.

"Werewolves heal rapidly. We should probably get some food in him though. A hungry werewolf is dangerous." Simon said dusting the dirt off his pants.

"Why is he acting so weird?" Tori said eyeing Derek cautiously.

"Blood loss, his advance immune system is trying to repair itself." Simon started, I stared up at him. When did Simon become a werewolf expert? "When a human looses a lot of blood their behavior changes. Or at least their mental state. D's body is different though and has many percussions against injuries like this. Like releasing certain chemicals into the blood stream, if there's too much of it they can cause this intoxicated like state. His kind likes to fight amongst themselves and if their bodies weren't capable of healing rapidly there wouldn't be many of them left."

He looked up, noticing me and Tori starring at him confused. It was like Simon had just recited a paragraph from a werewolf medical text book. Tori was about to say something when Simon coughed and motioned to Derek, who was still starring at me. "Help me get him to his feet."

Once Simon and Jack had Derek upright I quickly pulled his pants up the rest of the way and fastened them. His chest bare and covered in blood, but his shirt would only do more harm than good. He swayed a bit before catching his balance. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me next to him. Leaning a bit too much of his weight on me causing me to buckle a bit.

"Oi there, I don't think she's going to make a good crutch." Jack said stepping forward to try to help me out from under his arm. Faster than anyone expected him capable of in his current state Derek swung out his arm and knocked Jack off his feet and to the ground. He landed with a very audible thump about five feet away.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Tori said rushing forward to help Jack up. Derek focused in on Jack. His whole demeanor changing an instant. His eyes dangerous and lethal as he starred Jack down. I heard a faint growl rumble from deep within his chest.

Simon stepped forward and made a similar move, but stopped when a very real wolf like growl came from Derek's clenched teeth. He pulled me even closer until I was pressed against his warm bloodstained chest. Simon's eyes narrowed and took a step forward but I held up a hand to stop him.

"NO! Bad idea! Don't challenge a werewolf Simon! You know that better than anyone." I shouted at him. He looked at me a bit of the anger fading from his face as common sense took over. He stepped back.

"He's going to crush you if he keeps leaning on you like that. He's too big for you to hold up." Simon said. Jack came to his side rubbing his back; he didn't seem hurt just annoyed. Tori was livid.

"So what? I help save your sorry ass and you repay me by knocking around my man?" Tori snapped. "How very gentlemanly of you! ASSHOLE!"

"It's not him Tori." Simon said moving towards the car. "Derek's predatory instinct kicked in and G.I. Joe got to close to Chloe. Derek let him know to back off. He is reminding us all who the alpha male here is. The wolf is just protecting his mate, that's all."

Tori looked at Simon and the back at Derek and me. "That doesn't explain why he's a complete asshole."

"And to top it all off, he can barely think straight so the wolf is panicking. So basically treat him like he's drunk." Simon sighed opening the door to the backseat. "And a drunk werewolf is a dangerous werewolf."

"What about Chloe then?" Jack said shifting accidently closer to Derek and me which made Derek growl again. Jack starred at me worried. "He's going to hurt her if we don't get her away from him? How do we help her?" He said questioningly, unsure of what to do.

"No. He won't' hurt me." I said.

Simon looked at me, worried before taking a deep breath. "Chloe should be fine. Derek's wolf obviously sees her as his mate. And a werewolf would sooner caught off his limbs then strike their mate. Just get him to shift his weight, Chloe, get him to realize he's hurting you." Simon said.

I nodded, wedging my arms between Derek's chest and me. With all my strength I pushed away from him. He didn't let me at first but slowly he gave me some room and shifted his weight to his other foot so he wasn't hanging on top of me. He swayed a bit, but was completely capable of standing without my help. I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm."See? All good. Simon, call Kit while I get Derek to his senses."

Simon smiled weakly and reached into his pocket for my cell phone. He walked a bit away from us so he could have a bit of privacy. Tori took Jack to the car and was telling him something in a very serious tone. But I made sure to focus everything on Derek. He was too unstable.

"Derek? Can you hear me?" I said reaching up and grabbing his face. He was watching Jack and Simon very carefully, his eyes sharp and deadly as they darted between the two men. "Derek!" I said again louder. He blinked and looked around like he didn't know where he was. He looked down and realized I was there. He smiled again.

"Hey!" He said loudly trying to lift his other arm but hissed when pain obviously stopped him. "OH! Bad idea." He chuckled letting his arm fall limp again by his side. I starred at it. Only a minute ago he had been able to use that arm freely as he swung at Jack.

Derek used his other arm, the one that was still wrapped around me, instead to caress the back of my neck and pull me closer. Much more gently this time. "Hey, there." He said his eyes growing soft. "m'girl." He said again.

"Hey." I said returning his smile. "How do you feel? We're going to be leaving soon."

"Hmm." He said as if he wasn't hearing me.

"How do you feel?" I said much slower.

He shook his head like he was shaking water out of his hair. "Fantastic. Wonderful. I feel like I could take on a lion." He said. "Goddamn, you are beautiful." He said reaching for a strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear. "So beautiful. Do you know when I first saw you? Back…Back whenever that was? You were still so short." He laughed, but it was different from his normal laugh. Much more loud and obnoxious.

"I don't like your fake glasses, though." He said reaching up and fumbling to get them off. "'Dats Better!" He said throwing them to the ground and giggling. Yes, I stared at him wide eyed, _Derek was giggling_.

"Chloe. Chloe. _Chloe_. Remember when you had blond hair? With those…those um…red streaks? You were pretty back then too." He said leaning down and burying his face in the crook of my neck.

"Derek don't do that, remember your shoulder. You shouldn't be-." I started trying to push him off so he'd stand straight up.

"My Chloe…" He hummed in my ear his breath hot on my skin. "You smelled like strawberries, back then. You still do. Strawberries and cut grass." He brushed his lips, clumsily over my neck kissing it. "Strawberries, grass and fresh baked cookies." He giggled again kissing the spot right below my ear. "Yea. It's amazing." He took a deep breath. "You smell wonderful. Chloe…"

"Yes, Derek. It's me. Now stand up straight. Or better yet let me take you and sit you down in the car." I said trying to put as much authority and power into my demand as possible. Even though I knew the situation was serious and Derek wasn't himself, I couldn't help but admit that my face was starting to turn red and all I wanted to do was return his affection. But not now. I keep telling myself. Get him home and get him to Lauren.

"Chloe…" He said his voice losing a lot of the laughter he had a second ago, replaced by something more serious. "Chloe...mine. I have to tell you…" He started but stopped. His only good hand grabbing me by the back of my head and pressed me as close as possible to his chest once again. I tried to get my hands between us to separate us but he wouldn't let me this time. That is when I felt and heard the tremor in his chest. It took me a second but I realized with a shock that he was crying.

Never did I ever imagine Derek crying before. He was just so strong. Giggling and now crying? Slowly I wrapped my arms around him and caressed his back trying to calm him. I could tell he was trying to fight it, but his body was a battlefield of so many emotions right now, I was starting to wonder how he was able to.

"It's okay." I said as he buried his face even more in my shoulder and hair.

"No." He replied faintly. "No. It's not." He pulled back just a bit so that he could rest his forehead on mine. "I could've lost you today." I looked at him, his face was contorted in pain, his wounded shoulder shaking a bit.

"I almost lost **you**." I said quietly correcting him as I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair.

"I was so scared." He said his eyes closed. "I…I couldn't find you. It was such a small feild…but I couldn't find you. I was so helpless." He tilted his head so he could kiss the corner of my mouth. "And then…I didn't even think. I just acted. I had no control."

"It's okay." I reassured him again. "I'm okay. And once we get you back to your dad and Lauren then they'll help, you're going to be okay. So stop mopping."

I saw his mouth twitch as he fought back a smile. "You're a complete idiot sometimes." His words took me aback for a second. "Your mine. My Chloe." He said taking in a deep breath and stepping back enough to give himself room to grab his shoulder in pain. "Chloe." He keep repeating over and over in a hushed whisper.

"Come on." I said putting my hand on his back and leading him slowly towards the car. Simon returned then, and for the first time I noticed bags under his eyes. He was exhausted.

"No surprise here. Dad is furious. Lauren is ready to have a stroke." Simon said motioning to the phone. "Their preparing the house for world war 3 as we speak. Husht is on her way and will probably beat us home. She's also bringing her own lil'army to 'protect' us once we get there." He sighed. "We really messed up on this one, huh?"

"Is that all he said?" Tori said amazed.

"Well, he said something about us all being grounded till our grandchildren were old enough to drive. That he was going to turn Derek's car into dust. And that we better say goodbye to freedom now, because the next few months were going to be a living hell." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Once he figures you brought your soldier boyfriend in on all our little secrets, though Princess Victoria, I think you won't be seeing daylight for nigh 130years."

"Ah…" Tori said looking a bit off as she looked at the steering wheel. "Well I guess it could be worse." She looked at Jack. "Probably best if we drop you off at the nearest gas station." Jack shook his head.

"Nah ,no way. I'm not about to let you get in more trouble because of me." Jack smiled and winked.

"I'll probably get in more trouble if I bring you with us." She snapped.

"Ah but then who's going to explain to your dad why you let me help you and all that jazz?" He rubbed his neck. "My whole life I've been chasing ghost stories. I'm not about to let you, a living breathing beautiful figment of my imagination get away." Tori blushed and then growled at him.

"Are we going to get the heck out of here or what?" She snapped again. "I don't know about the rest of you lot but I rather would get this over with now, rather than later."

"Agreed." Simon sighed. "I'll take the back with Derek and Chloe. I am about to fall over, I am so tired. That last spell took more out of me then I thought it would."

Simon helped me get Derek upright in the window seat before settling into his own on the opposite side. Tori had barely started the car when Simon started snoring.

"So we just go home." Tori said taking a deep breath. "Mutt boy is fine, a bit tipsy and an asshole but fine. Scratches and bruises all around. But none the less were all still whole." She looked at Jack, then me, Derek, and then Simon snoring away.

"Tori." Derek said weakly trying to lift his head up.

Tori cocked in eyebrow and looked in the rearview mirror at him. "What now?"

"Thank you." He said taking a deep breath his head rolling to rest above mine. Tori blinked back shock at the complete seriousness in his tone. "Thank you. For saving me. And Im sorry…being such an ass to you all the time."

She stared at him for a good minute before smiling sweetly. "Well like it or not you're legally my older brother right? Foster or not. Of course I'm not going to let you die. And as my Older brother you have every right to be an ass to me. It comes with the territory. Right?"

Derek smiled. "Right."

Tori smiled to herself before turning the music up and starting a conversation with Jack. The music quickly drained out their voices and I listen instead to Derek's breathing as it became more and more even.

Minutes passed before Derek moved, he moved his un-injured hand onto my lap, palm up. I grabbed it and he quickly laced his finger with mine. "Im sorry about this morning." He said in my ear so only I could hear.

"Im sorry about last night." I said moving my head so I would be able to look at him clearer.

"I overreacted." He mumbled. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I don't care." His thumb slowly caressed mine. "You're here and that's all that matters..." He let out a sigh. "You are beautiful."

"You've mentioned that enough today." I smiled. "But thanks."

He wet his lips his brow narrowed, as if he was concentrating. "My heads getting a bit clearer." He lifted his head to look around before returning it to rest on top of mine. "Mine…" he whispered like he was weighing the word. "Chloe, do you trust me?"

"Yes." I said without hesitation.

"Do you trust me with your life?"He said a bit more cautious.

"Yes."

"Even when…" He stopped himself.

I stared at him worried. I reached up and brushed his hair out his eyes. "Tell me." I whispered.

"I'm terrified that I can't act without…The wolf is always there, in the back of my mind." He stopped taking a deep breath. He moved his injured shoulder a bit to make it more comfortable. "I'm not afraid that he's going to hurt you, more so that…" He was struggling for the right word.

"Enough." I said putting my two fingers over his lips to stop him. "I don't care if your part wolf part man. You could be part fish. I don't care. I've told you a thousand times. And i'll tell you a thousand and one times more: I love you. Every –freaky and strange bit about you. Whatever it is about your wolf that has you freaked out, remember, I am here. And I'm **not** going anywhere. Like you keep rambling on about, I'm your Chloe."

He smiled. And whispered my last three words.

"And you are my Derek." I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed the faint rumbling in his chest that was music to my ears. This was more like the normal Derek. To think only half an hour ago I thought I had lost him. And to have him now in my arms, and okay…UGGH! The relief was almost more than I could ever had hoped for.

He groaned as he moved his shoulder. He leaned over me and pressed his lips gently over mine. I returned his kiss in full.

"Oh and Derek?" I said as he fell back into the seat, he cocked his eyebrow and looked at me worried by my tone. "If you ever do that again, I'm going to chain you to the porch like a misbehaving mutt."

He laughed again, "Yes M'am."

For a moment, I thought he had fallen asleep. His breathing was even and his thumb had stopped moving over my hand. But after a good five minutes of silence, he leaned down again and in my ear spoke so quietly that there was no hope for anyone else in the world to hear.

"Chloe…I'm worried about Simon."

I blinked and looked over at Simon, his face pressed against the window his mouth opened and snoring. And although at first glance he looked comical, looking closer I could see worry and fear etched on his face. He looked downright horrible. There was no laughter in face anymore. None of the cockiness or wonder that I was so use to seeing on his face. Simon had always been that guy. The person to brighten your day with a joke or an awkward comment, but lately…

I took a deep breath and turned back to Derek. My voice a bit shaky as I answered him.

"Me too."

…

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWER READ MORE KELLY ARMSTRONG!**

**Okay. The fangirl in me would never let that gunshot be a fatal one. I wanted so bad to just write Derek saying "It's a flesh wound. Only a flesh wound!" **

**And okay I'm not a drinker or anything but I amuse myself with guessing how people would act drunk. And I really wanted to write a scene with some one drunk in it. But im not going to let these underage characters drink. WHAT KIND OF PERSON DO YOU THINK I AM D: ? So instead I wrote loopy Derek. Who isn't drunk but that's what happens when you loose to much blood. You get a bit head drunk. And for a werewolf teenager I think It would be much worse. Or atleast that's what happens to werewolves in my stories. Lol. Couldn't help myself. And Loopy Derek is gone pretty fast. So just ignore me having a bit of fun with the characters ;P**

**Next chapter should be up tomorrow or at the most a few days.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE FEEDBACK!**


	9. Chapter 9: Problem

**AUTHOR NOTE: im bringing in a character from my previous darkest powers fanfic: necromanced in this and future chapters. That is not in the original Kelly Armstrong books. William Trip, who I introduced as Derek's uncle. He cares deeply for Derek, because he looks eerily like his brother, Derek's biological father. And that's about all you need to know about him. **

I knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant, but at least we were home.

"Here goes nothing, gang." Tori said as she crept up the drive, slowly as possible.

Derek groaned as he tried to sit up straight his hand flying to his chest. The second our tires hit the gravel road the front door swung wide open and people began filing out. Tori put the car in park as Kit and Lauren ran towards us, their eyes wide with anger and fear.

"WHAT were you kids thinking?" Lauren shouted flinging her arms in the air, a bit of hysteria in her voice.

We all scrambled out of the car, Derek biting his lip to keep from cursing as he used his injured arm to hold himself steady. I got out of the car just in time to see Myrtle Husht hopping off the front porch with the energy a 70plus woman should not have.

"That's easy one Lauren, they weren't." Kit growled eyeing Jack who cautiously got out of the passenger seat. "I can't believe that you deliberately put yourselves in danger like that." He looked at Derek who towered over him. "And look what happened to you."

"What? Is there something on my face?" Derek hissed rolling his shoulder. Lauren rushed over and started inspecting the burn mark on his shoulder. Derek swore as she put pressure on the entry point. I grabbed his arm as he lifted it. I was certain he was back in control, but I didn't want him to accidently push Lauren away.

"Derek!" Kit hissed rubbing his forehead. "This isn't a joke!" He took a step back and looked at each of us in turn. Lingering on Simon who was leaning against the car his eyes half opened, almost asleep again. "Who else is hurt?"

"Besides Derek, it's just small cuts and bruises all around." Tori said walking over to the other side of the car to put herself between her father and Jack. Kit was about to say something his eyes focused on Tori.

"Kit." Myrtle spoke up her voice carrying over the short distance making everyone's head turn in her direction. "Maybe it would be best to continue this conversation _**inside**_?" She looked around at the descending darkness. Kit rubbed his neck trying to release his tension. Simon was the first to head towards the house. His hands in his pockets, he didn't look at or acknowledge Myrtle as he passed her on the porch.

"Right everyone, inside now." Kit said motioning to everyone. Everyone filed past him but Tori wasn't fast enough. "Hold it. Who the hell are you." He said grabbing Tori shoulder and looking past her at Jack.

"Dad, it's okay he's-." Tori started but Myrtle held up her hand.

"It's all taken care of Kit." She rushed pushed away Kit's arm away from Tori and away from Jack. "Mr Martin is a member of one of the paranormal agencies that the SCC has taken control over, the Manhattan Elite. His boss reported him missing half an hour ago, she'll be happy to know that he's here and in one piece." She said patting him on the back as she talked.

"I—Wha?" Jack looked at her taken aback. "SCC? How did-."

"I make it my business to know everything. Especially when it comes to you paranormal hunters. You know the old saying; keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Now don't do that face Kit," She snarled looking at him and shaking her head, "for the time being Mr. Martin here works for me, at least till I hand him back over to his boss. So enough of the hold up, everyone get inside."

Tori didn't hesitate grabbing a still confused Jack by the hand and dragging him up the steps. Kit starred after them, concern and anger flashing across his face. Myrtle looked at me as I passed her, Derek's arm around my shoulders as I helped him up the steps. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth became a thin line, she was obviously angry with me. I returned her glare without blinking.

Derek started to walk towards the living room where everyone was starting to converge on, when Lauren pulled him back. "No, you just got shot! What you need is medical attention. This can't wait. Myrtle brought a healer with her; we need to get that bullet out." I started to walk away but Derek grabbed my hand and dragged me along with him to the end of the hall.

"Chloe, you don't need…" Lauren started to say but I gave her a wide-eyed look shaking my head towards Derek. Silently trying to convey to her that Derek wasn't in the mood to negotiate. We walked into Kit's office, a man with neatly combed blond hair smiled at us next to the desk in the center of the room. He was arranging a white cloth with medical instruments laid out on the desk.

He waved, a wide smile taking over his face. I didn't even know this guy but there was no way I couldn't like him. He couldn't be any older than Lauren, but his face was still retained boyish qualities, except for large laugh lines around his eyes. He had on the most ridiculous outfit too, nice dress pants with flashy suspenders, and a brightly stripped tie. Sunshine poured out of this man as he bounced on his feet towards us.

"Hello! I'm Ethan! Your friendly neighborhood witch-doctor." He reached out his hand to Derek expecting a handshake. Derek just looked at him. "Ohhhhkay! Let's get down to business!" He said clapping his hands. He nodded at me smiling and not skipping a beat, he patted an empty spot on the desk. "You don't know how lucky you kids are that I agreed, last minute, to come here with Myrtle. If not you would have had to deal with that bullet for a few more hours. But I couldn't miss all this excitement now could I?" He smiled and pushed away Derek's hand to get a better look. "Ah well look at that." He face got a bit more serious as his eyes darted around Derek's injured side. He didn't really look at the bullet wound first, instead put pressure on the Derek's shoulder massaging it. "A few damaged muscles tendons." He mumbled to himself.

He then shifted his attention to Derek's shoulder hissing at the charred flesh. "Nasty burn."

"He was bleeding too much. Tori thought it would help." I said looking the strange man up and down again, my mind was still trying to process the bright colors with great difficulty.

"My dear, there's nothing I can't heal," he winked at me and then shrugged. "…that's untrue…let me rephrase. I can heal the damaged muscle tendon and any damaged skin, get that bullet out…but I won't be able to heal this burn completely. Smart way to stop blood loss, I must say, but because it was made with magic it will unfortunately, scar." He giggled. "I guess there goes your modeling career right, lad?" Derek shook his head, his face blank.

Lauren reached for a needle and I looked away immediately. Lauren noticed my reaction and I saw her eyes narrow accusingly in Derek's direction. "Derek, this isn't going to be pleasant. We're going to try to knock you out for a bit, but it won't last. Chloe should probably leave."

He glared at her but nodded, before letting go of my hand. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

"Yup." He smiled, kissing me on the forehead and then gently shoving me towards the door. I say gently but it was enough pressure to knock me of my balance as I stumbled towards the door.

"Get going little lady. I think with our combined weight and muscle, me and Lauren will be able to hold him down." I was a bit hesitant until Lauren pulled out another needle and started looking for a vein in Derek's arm. I jogged down the hall but stopped immediately when I heard Tori raised voice from the next room.

"...but do I do them? NO! Let me remind you what I HAVE been through!" I rushed into the living room in time to see Tori stomping her foot and holding her hand up to count on her fingers. "I was sent to a mental home because the old whack jobs **YOU** worked for thought I was unstable and decided the best way to fix the problem was to shove pills down my throat. I ran away from same mental home because they started killing kids who were getting out of control. KILLING THEM! My own mother tried to kill me. I _WATCHED _as my mother tried to kill my best friends, my own brother, _your_ son. And I watched her…. die." She took a deep breath. "I am almost nineteen years old, and my life has been hell after new hell for almost all of it. And you still insist on calling me a kid."

Kit looked at her uneasily, we all did, and his mouth opened but no words came out. He looked at Simon who was practically asleep on the couch un-phased, and to Jack who was sitting next to Tori and was now leaning as far away from her as possible. Myrtle was leaning on the doorway near where I was standing her eyes focused on Tori, poised and ready if anything were to happen.

Minutes passed and no one spoke. Kit just starred at her trying to think of something, anything to say. His face had lost all the color from his previous anger. I watched her nervously. Tori and anger didn't mix well, and she had been holding in a lot, I could literally see her anger washing off her in waves. Kit had triggered something, something she had been holding onto for a very long time.

I noticed Tori's hand shaking, saw the faint buzz of electricity that she was trying to hold back. Not good. When Tori was pissed, her powers became out of control.

"Tori." I whispered gently, and as calmly as I could, going over to her and grabbing her hand. I winced; it felt like I had been shocked from the static in the carpet. She looked down at me her breathing returning to normal. She nodded.

"Sorry." She mumbled back. "I'm just sick of being treated like I'm a kid." She looked at Kit, her eyes much softer. "Dad, it was an accident. I was the one who convinced everyone to go, but we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kit starred at her for a few more minutes before nodding and taking a few steps back, his anger obviously gone. Kit was never the person to get angry for long, and if there was one thing he always keep in check, it was how he treated Tori. He nodded.

Tori sat down and looked at the floor. I looked from her to Kit and then to Myrtle. "If anyone's to blame it's me not Tori. The Demon is after me, and it's because of me those ass-holes attacked the fair. But we should be focusing more on how they found us and if they're going to do it again, don't you think?"

"For once Chloe, you are right." Husht smiled, coming into the room. "She's absolutely right. This Demon is becoming more and more active that means it is about to make its move. We need to be a step ahead." She patted Kit on the back. "You can play overprotective father in a bit. But as Chloe said the blame is more on her, so don't get to mad at Miss Victoria. This is why I am here, and to put it bluntly a vengeful Demon is more a concern then your daughters behavior."

A loud crack erupted from down the hall, which made everyone jump. I stood up a wave a fear rising in my chest. I didn't think I could handle more than one psycho today, and defiantly not here. Simon's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight his attention focused on direction of the noise.

"It's okay!" Lauren's voice came from down the hall instantly. In unison, everyone let out a slight sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that?" Kit shouted at her.

"…Derek broke your desk." Lauren shouted back. Kit starred in the direction of his study. I couldn't help it and neither could Tori or Jack. We all started laughing, each turning away from Kit and Husht to try to hide it. Simon slowly fell back into his chair and immediately returned to sleep.

"Now I think it's time to get some rest." Myrtle said patting Kit on the back. "We can deal with this tomorrow, and I have a few things I want to address with you in private immediately."

And with that she took Kit out of the room rambling on about more wards he should put on the two houses. But Kit was adamant about keeping everyone in the same place, and that this farmhouse was big enough for everyone. We waited, but Kit never came back into the room, so we assumed that we were free to go.

Tori jumped up the minute Kit was completely out of earshot. "That went a lot better than I expected."

"Don't worry, by tomorrow Kit will have thought of a way to punish us. Just you wait. He'll make you knit scarves for homeless people." I smiled going over to Simon and shaking his shoulder. After awhile he looked up weakly. "Bed time, sport." He sat up slowly looking around like he had no idea where he was. "You okay?" I asked worried.

"Yup." He said his eyes still half closed. "Never using that spell again, can barely keep my eyes opened." Simon yawned standing up and scratching the back of his head.

I hesitated. "Simon, about that spell you used. At the end wasn't it-."

"Chloe, I'm really tired. It can wait till morning." He said without looking at me, and he staggered up to his room.

"I think some of Derek is rubbing off on him." Tori said her face matching my concern. "Speaking of, you better go check on Wolf-boy. Figure out why he felt inclined to break dad's favorite desk."

…

The floorboards outside Tori's room creaked and woke me up. I sat up slowly adjusting my position to the door. The small cot that Kit had put in Tori's room for me wasn't situated for me to have a clear shot to the window or any means of needed escape.

Tori of course, didn't hear any of it. I sat poised on the edge waiting for a signal that would send me into fight or flight mode. That's till I heard a faint whisper outside the door. I recognized it instantly.

Derek.

I moved towards the door as quietly as possible, although I think Tori would've slept through me stomping. Derek was leaning on the doorframe when I peeked out. His wounded shoulder wrapped tight in bandages and his arm in a sling to avoid him using it.

"Hey." He said, his eyes glowing.

"Hey." I smiled back.

…

**SIMONS POV**

The sunlight breaching through the curtains is was what woke me up. My head was heavy as I tried to lift it, but a sudden wave of nausea just brought it back to the pillow. My whole body ached, it felt like I had been in a bar fight with the Terminator, and lost.

For a brief moment as I tried to remember what had happened, my mind went blank. A stab of fear shot through me as I struggled to remember something, anything. I shot up nearly falling off my bed, my hands flying to my forehead.

Flashes of the previous day came slowly and dim at first; a car ride, crowds, junk food, Chloe and Derek laughing. And then they started to become more vivid; Screams and running, flashes, gunfire….

Had it all been a nightmare?

I looked over at Derek's empty bed, or worse had it all been true…

Jumping out of bed, I raced down the hall and ran straight into someone. I stumbled backwards, for a second I thought it was Derek and I felt nerves let out a sigh of relief.

"Oi! Sorry!"

The voice didn't register, and I looked up more clearly and it wasn't him.

"W-who…who the hell are you?" My voice came, weak at first.

"Uh… Jack. From yesterday, I was just going to use the bathroom…"

That's right, I remembered instantly, The ghost hunter/soldier guy that Tori had found. "Oh right sorry…Have you seen Derek?"

"Uh…no, not since I helped him clean up the broken desk last night." Jack replied worriedly.

I pushed past him leaving him standing there confused. I knocked on Tori's door, when no answer came I opened it slowly just enough to peek in. There was an empty cot next to her bed. I recognized the blanket almost instantly as Chloe's favorite. She wasn't in bed either… But they had to be all right. I remembered him breaking the desk last night. So if he was well enough to clean up his own mess then he must be okay.

Dad had his back to me when I came into the kitchen. All the energy I had a moment before was gone, my head was fuzzy, my feet heavy. "Morning son." Dad mumbled over his coffee. "Were moving today so I suggest getting some breakfast."

I grumbled my displeasure as I slouched into one of the chairs at the table. "Is that where Derek and Chloe are then? Packing things over at her house?"

"What?" He looked over at me confused.

"Derek and Chloe. There not in their beds."

His cup hit the counter with an audible crack as he swore. "I've been down here since 2am. There's no way they got passed me."

I laughed. "So your saying…that a Werewolf who easily can jump out of a two story window has no way of getting past you, here in the kitchen. Dad, teenagers have been using windows to break curfew for generations. If Derek wanted to be alone with Chloe then he could easily sneak out and back in without you ever knowing." I smiled reading the nutrient value on the back of a cereal box.

"He…Are you saying him and Chloe are-"

"I never said that!" I shot up looking at him in disgust. "Gah Dad!" But that didn't stop him from running up the stairs towards the bedrooms. I shook my head after him before banging it gently on the table, trying to wake myself up. That's when a faint flicker of light caught my eye. It was coming from the basement nearly opposite me. "Dad!"

His head poked out from the stairway. I leaned down the basement and caught a glimpse of two heads curled up on the couch. "Their watching a movie, so stop jumping to conclusions." I went down the basement steps as he came back down to the kitchen mumbling how if he had been right he would have skinned Derek's hide.

_Jumping to conclusions. _I sighed, looking at the two passed out on the couch. Completely innocent, more like disgustingly innocent. Derek still had a potato chip in his hand, the bag almost completely empty on Chloe's lap. I ran my fingers through my hair as I looked at his bandage shoulder. _Too close._ The sound of the gun going off was still ringing in my head. It had been ringing repeatedly in the back of my mind since I had woken up. Every time, it made my skin crawl.

If Derek had died…Well I didn't want to think about that. But If Derek hadn't been there, then Chloe would've been the one bleeding out on the field. And Chloe wouldn't have survived that, she was to fragile. Derek was always the hero. Throwing himself in the way to protect us. It had always made me sleep easier knowing he had my back…At least it use too…

The corner of my mouth twitched. Chloe was still wearing my shirt. I don't know why I felt happier seeing her in it. But Derek's arm around her quickly changed that. A sudden wave of anger washed over me, catching me off guard. I shook my head and took a few steps backwards.

What was wrong with me? I looked back at the two confused, but that only fueled the unwanted anger. _No._ I growled to myself. I had to get away as far from them and as fast as I could. This anger wasn't mine, but It was real and I could feel it hot in my chest and part of my mind was demanding some kind of action.

I ran up the steps three at a time out of the basement so fast I tripped on the top step.

"Simon? You okay?" Kit said looking over at him from the kitchen table where he was flipping through files. Concern flaring to his face as I fell to the ground hard. It hurt like hell, but I stood up right away, biting my lip.

"Tripped, that's all." I said quickly, brushing my knee and getting as far away from the basement as possible. The morning air hit my face like ice-cold water. I jumped off the front porch and ran towards the shed in the back yard. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself my whole body trembling. My fear slowly began to shadow the anger, but was becoming just as dangerously out of control.

I reached the shed and barricade myself inside, falling to the ground instantly. Oh god, what was wrong with me? I felt a dark weight press heavy on my chest. Out of nowhere I suddenly remembered the spell I had cast last night…I never even remember practicing that spell. I knew the words yes, but it takes me months of practicing to master a spell and the one I had used was so difficult….

But it had worked. With only a few words…I had killed that man, the one with the gun. The anger I had felt, that I had been feeling….it was so intense. I closed my eyes and forced myself to fight it. Images of Chloe, Derek, Tori , Laruen and Kit flashed in my head. But it just made it worse. Something was screaming at me…Shouting, cursing and demanding me to be angry….

I didn't want it. I wanted it to go away. But the more I fought the stronger it was becoming. I could feel the dark veil covering my vision and thoughts. Something was now laughing at me, telling me that it was useless and that it had already won….

_What is wrong with ME!_

…_._

**CHLOES POV**

Everyone was moving about the house in rush, packing the house up for the move. Kit had agreed to relocate to a safer facility were Myrtle guaranteed stronger protection. I was helping him pack up his

study. His broken desk discarded in a pile in the hallway.

"Chloe, move those books please." He said pointing to a stacked pile I had separated. "Oh, and one more thing." Kit came over and leaned in my ear, the sudden closeness made me jump. "I don't want Derek to hear." He said as quietly as possible, so that Derek who was upstairs clearing out his closet wouldn't be able to eavesdrop in. I nodded and leaned in closer. "I called William. He's flying in today to make sure Derek's okay."

I looked at him worried, mouthing the word 'sure'.

"Don't tell him, he'll just get upset." Kit smiled. He was about to say something more when Ethan rushed in, making us both stop.

"Oh hello Chloe. So nice to see you again!" he rushed past handing Kit a file. "I found that file for you on that Manhattan project or what not. Can't stay, lots to do." He smiled rushing out of the room.

Both me and Kit watched him as he literally skipped out of view. "There are no words to describe that man." Kit said shaking his head, taking one more worried look in the direction he had gone. Just then, Simon walked past, a small box in his arms. Kit frowned when Simon gave us a halfway glance; there were deep shadows under his eyes, before walking silently away. "Uh…Chloe would you mind talking to him? I would do it, but he just won't talk to me anymore."

I took a deep breath, a wave of anxiety washing over me. I tried to make my words sound more confident, but they still came out shaky and unsure. "No problem."

…..

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS! READ MORE !**

**Review please. Sorry for the long absence. Work overloud at school became out of control. And to put It bluntly….I've been locked in my dorm room covered in paint for the past few months with no free time what so ever….there I said it…**

**Review please!**


	10. Chapter 10: Simon

**Author's note:** **this chapter might be a bit disturbing….just a quick warning…**

Simon didn't look up as I entered the small enclosed back porch area, where he had decided to pile some of his boxes. It was a pretty big house so everyone else was far enough away and we could have some privacy. I made my entrance as loud as possible, the old wood creaking under my weight

"Hey." I smiled walking over to the old bookshelf where he had a few of his knickknacks stored.

"Hey." He replied his voice empty, still not looking my way; he held up an old basketball trophy and weighed it in his hands. It was obvious that he was not in the mood for continuing the conversation. He reached for a trashcan nearby and tossed the trophy inside with an audible clang. I starred after it, my concern building.

"You okay?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm fine." He mumbled barely audible.

"Are you sure cause I-."

"_I'm fine_." He growled looking at me, his eyes sharp and intense. I felt myself take a step back from him involuntarily. "Just leave me alone." He looked away back to a pile of framed pictures from the living room. Part of my body was telling me to just leave, but my feet were glued to the floor. I can shock myself sometimes at how stubborn I can be.

"Simon," I said quietly, "you know I can't do that."

He picked up a picture; it was one of the photos taken at the school dance. All four of us crowded around one small table, everyone laughing and smiling. Simon starred at deeply, his eyes moving slowly from one face to the next.

"Everyone's worried about you; you know. You've been acting odd the past couple of weeks." I walked a bit closer to him. He didn't look at me or acknowledge what I said at all. This was a real first for me, I knew Derek well enough that I knew the right words to bring him out of any kind of mood. But Simon was different, especially lately with his mood swings. How do I talk down a split personality of Simon that I wasn't use too? "Is there something you want to talk about? I am a pretty good listener. I'll be there for you no matter how odd, or strange, or upsetting this thing that's bothering you is. You need to talk to _someone_ about this, you can't keep it bottled up, it's making you sick. If not me, then at least talk to Dere-!"

He slammed the framed picture into the trashcan so hard that it made me jump. He looked down at it, his eyes dark his muscles tensed. I felt a twinge of true fear raise in my chest and I tried to move away. The slight movement caused Simon's head to snap up and glare at me. It was like looking at a different person, the shadowy figure in horror movies that causes the heroine to turn tail and run away screaming. He didn't even look like Simon anymore, it was his face but it was contorted in a way that I had never even imagine Simon capable of. The little voice in my head began screaming at me. _Threat. Get the hell out of there…._

A wave of magic flowed through the room, as he looked down on me. "I told you to leave me alone." He growled as he struggled to control his breathing.

My voice sounded broken as I fumbled to make myself coherent, "but I can't jus-."

"What part of _leave me alone _don't you understand!" He snapped, he turned around and reached for the nearest box, pouring its contents into the trash.

It took three steps backwards, weighing my options, "Simon…."

"I don't need your help." He cut me off, reaching into another box and pulling out a stack of papers. I recognized them instantly as some of his artwork. Mostly the short comic he had drawn of our adventures three years ago. I realized what he was going to do a second before he did it, and without any time to stop him, he ripped them all in half and flung them at the trash.

"SIMON!" I shouted reaching for the ruined comic books. He kicked the can out of my reach sending its contents flying across the floor. I reached down and picked up a solo drawing that had survived the destruction, I had always loved Simon's art. The little voice was now so loud I couldn't make out anything, just the basic primal instinct: _Run_. But there was no way I was just going to let Simon win, I found myself arguing with my instincts. I wanted to know why, and damn it he was going to tell me. "What. Is. Your. Problem!" I hissed through my teeth, clutching the drawing, anger starting to build up in my chest incasing any fears I had. I couldn't help it, but the anger in the room was becoming contagious.

"My_ problem_?" He said a hint of hysteria in his voice as he looked over at me, his face red with rage.

"YES. _**Your **_problem!" I stomped my foot and rushed towards him, nose to nose. "You have been a complete ass to everyone for weeks! Three years I've been practically living with you, don't you think I can't tell when something's wrong? All I wanted to do was help, cause you're the closest thing to a family I am ever going to have, AND LIKE IT OR NOT I CARE ABOUT YOU!" I said my voice getting louder and louder until I was yelling at him. I shoved the drawing at his chest; he grabbed it and proceeded to crinkle it up. I shook my head disgusted at him. "I don't know what your problem is Simon, but you're acting like a complete Jack-ass."

"MY PROBLEM IS EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING OKAY?" He said his voice louder than I'd had ever heard it. I took half a step back, alarmed by how furious his face was. "You and everyone else!" He pointed an accusing finger at me. "You're just so fucking special! Aren't you? Failed experiments, tragic little hero's huh? But not Simon. OH NOT SIMON! Noooo _Simon's _the only normal one, normal powers, normal everything!" He turned away rubbing the back of his neck.

_Okay_, I thought as I tried to convince myself that we were getting somewhere. Keep Simon talking, we'll get this figured out and then we could apologize to each other later. I tried to pretend the danger was false, and that this was just Simon letting go of whatever grudge he had been building up.

I was about to say something when he swung back around and stepped closer to me. "But no one stopped to check if I really was normal, now did they?" He slapped his hand repeatedly on the top of his head. "Oh 'cause I'm not normal, Chloe, if you haven't noticed it yet!" He smiled wickedly at me and I felt all the color and strength that had been building up inside me from before drain away in an instant. "I'm just as screwed up as you. Worse even, I'm so angry all the time Chloe." He took another step closer to me. "I hate everyone, and _Oh god _do I hate you."

He flung his arms into the air. I took another step back terrified. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. I knew when it was time to run, and when I could fight my way through. And even though I had ignored the voice only minutes ago, all I wanted to do now was run, but how do I runaway from Simon? I had never had the need to run away from him, it had never been necessary, but** This** was bad. I needed to get away from him, but he didn't give me that chance. The moment he saw me looking for an escape he lunged forward, grabbing me forcefully by the upper arm. I tried to jerk my arm away, but his grip wouldn't budge.

"SIMON!" I shouted, pain erupted down my arm under his grip, he was gripping my bad arm. The one that was scared from so many years ago. The old wounds began to twinge, as his grip remained locked.

"What? WHAT? Are you finally realizing how terribly _flawed_ I am?" He said, I couldn't get away all I could do was stare into his angry eyes. Oh god this was really happening. Simon was demented, and what is worse was the fact that I had opened the floodgates. I had broken the wall restraining this monster. "What is it Chloe?" He hummed tilting his head.

I was becoming frantic now, trying to get out of his grip. I was clawing and prying at his hand but nothing was working. I cursed myself for purposely wanting to talk to him somewhere even Derek would have a hard time hearing us. But we had been shouting at each other, surely someone would be able to hear us. I went numb as became aware of the magic hanging in the air, Simon had casted a spell and I hadn't noticed it.

He had made the room soundproof….

"Poor defenseless Chloe. Always so perfect, perfect Chloe. Look! I'm just like the rest of you freaks now. Anger issues must run in my family, huh? I'm not normal. See, I'm just like _**you**_."

That's when I saw it. Simon's eyes. They were wrong, apart from the anger and the rage, there was a fog of something...Something otherworldly...and dark. Instantly I focused in on it, I could feel its presence and I recognized it. My heart sank as it all began to make perfect sense.

_Oh no_.

"S-s-simon, this isn't you." I said my voice trembling. Tears coming to my eyes. Oh god no.

"Isn't me?" He snapped a wide and manic smile across his face. He shoved me, hard, throwing me against the wall. I tried to spin around in time to catch myself but it didn't work. My forehead collided with the frame on the wall. I felt the glass shatter and slice the skin on the top of my head. I reached up and gingerly touched the spot. When I looked down at my hand, it was covered in blood.

"S-simon, C-c-calm down." I whined my breath coming in short gasps. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't wrap my mind around it, Simon had just thrown me across the room, had sliced my head open. The creature who's presence I felt inside him, it had found the one doubt and fear in Simon's heart and was fueling the fire. And I had no idea how to stop it. I looked up at him, my eyes wide full of fear.

He stood frozen in place, his skin white. I was shocked to see the pain in his eyes. And I felt a wave of hope, maybe I could fight this thing off. It disappeared almost instantly, I saw his hands at his sides twitch and tremble and the pain was replaced once again with anger and furry.

"What was it about me Chloe?" He said grinding his teeth and storming towards me. I flinched away form. He stood over me, towering. "What was it that Derek had that I didn't?" He stepped forward and grabbed my wrist.

"W-what?" I whimpered.

"What was it?" He said, pushing me against the wall. "Was I too weak for you? Too pitiful compared to the big bad Werewolf? That's what it was, wasn't it, you like the Danger. Don't you Chloe?"

"N-no Simon. Stop. You need to stop. My wrist, Simon my-!" His grip tightened I let out a little cry of pain. If he kept it up he was going to break it. He had me pinned. He leaned forward and placed his forehead on mine.

"This is what you wanted? Wasn't it? A nice little talk, just me and you." He smiled closing his eyes for a few seconds like he was enjoying it. "Why would I stop? I feel alive for the first time in months. Always holding back, keeping my mouth shut. You were right Chloe, talking about this…it's just so freeing!"

"I can be dangerous. Just look at me now!" He whispered mincingly, his dark eyes searching mine. A shiver ran up my spine at his words. "You don't know how much it's tortured me…To hear him claim you as if he had any right at all, that flee-bitten bastard…" I heard a faint bit a power in his voice. A kind of power I had heard only once in my life. "When in fact you bound yourself to me long before he ever had a chance to lay his filthy claws on you. I had you the minute I first spoke to you. You where mine, back then, and your mine now…"

That's when I felt my anger return, flaring first in my stomach and then my lungs. This…_thing…._had crossed the line. It was using Simon…using me. This thing was destroying Simon. Simon, the happy go lucky boy, which for the past three years had been a brother to me. He had approved of me and Derek together from the beginning. There was no way Simon felt that way towards me anymore. It was the thing inside him, and I knew that in the end it would be Simon who came out of this worse off. Not me.

The puppet Simon, who was now pinning me against the wall, his face glowing with anger and with hate. This wasn't Simon; the _real_ Simon wasn't in control. I keep telling myself over and over again. I glared into his eyes focusing on the thing possessing him. "I don't know who or what you think you are," I shouted at it, "BUT LET SIMON **GO**!"

"_Simon's not here_." I heard the words echo around me, but the words didn't come from Simon lips. I heard them in my head. My blood turning to ice, and my bottom lip began to tremble. "_And I'm not going anywhere, Mistress." _Simon smiled and I shivered as his breath trailed on my skin. I tried to push him off me, but the more I struggled, the more Simon pressed me against the wall.

All of a sudden, Simon jerked backwards into the air. His grip still hard on my wrist so I was flown forward along with him. The magic in the air dissolving like a blast of wind. Then someone's hand was on my back and another was freeing me from Simon's grip.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" A familiar angry growl shook the room. Derek's face was beyond furious as his glowing green eyes focused on Simon. I felt my legs give out as realization that Derek was here and I was safe came over me. He held me tight in his arms, and I struggled to stand up straight. Simon took one-step forward regaining his balance, taking in what had thrown him.

Simon's face screwed up in anger he took a swing at Derek, which he easily avoided, making Simon stumble forward. Derek's eye sparked with furry, gently pushing me behind him. Completely ignoring the fact that he wasn't supposed to be using his injured arm he swung back. Hitting its target: Simon's face. It knocked him off his feet, blood gushing out of his nose as he fell with a hard _thud_ on the ground. Derek then reached down and grabbed the collar of Simon's shirt, lifting him up. His arm swung back about to strike again.

"**DEREK NO!"** I screamed running forward and grabbing his hand trying to hold him back. Derek's head swung back to look at me, and I saw that it wasn't Derek in control. My horrified face mirrored in his eyes. It only took that one look on my face to make Derek snap back to the present.

Hurried footsteps came pounding down the hall to investigate the shouting. Kit, Jack and Ethan all came bursting through the door at once. Jack swore as he took in what was in front of him. Me covered in blood, the broken glass from the picture frame and the scattered mess of Simon's belongings, Derek's out swung hand being held back by both of mine, and Simon limp at Derek's feet. Kit rushed forward and pushed Derek off of Simon. Derek allowed himself to be separated; I could tell he wanted nothing but to get as far away from him as possible. His fist shaking with rage, he remained centered between Simon and me. A shield.

"What's going on!" Kit shouted pulling Simon to his feet. He was back to normal now, all the darkness gone from his face. Replaced instead by pain as the everything crashed down on top of him.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Derek shouted. "He just attacked Chloe, that's what's going on!" Kit looked down at Simon whose eyes were staring at me horrified and pale white. His mouth was open and at a loss for words. Kit then looked at me and saw again the amount of blood streaming down my face.

"Chloe are you okay?" Kit asked. I nodded weakly and looked at Simon about to say something to him when Kit cut me off. "No Ethan." He raised a hand as the healer took a step towards me. "Derek, take Chloe and wash her up. I'll take care of S-." Derek didn't even wait to hear the end of what Kit had to say. He turned and gently put his hand on my back rushing me out of the room. I tried to look back but I couldn't get a glimpse of Simon.

"Derek, something's wrong with Simon he-." I started as he pulled me down the hall fighting to return and tell Kit what I had found out.

"He's going to get his ass kicked, that's what's wrong with him." I could hear the murder in his voice and I felt my stomach do a flip.

"No. Derek! He's possessed!" I said grabbing his shirt and trying to push him back into the other room. But my efforts where just as futile as before. "That wasn't Simon, back there he needs my help." We made it to the bathroom right when Tori came rushing down the stairs. She saw the blood running down my face.

"What the hell happened?" Tori gasped. "I heard screaming and shouting. Was there an accident? Are you okay?"

"Simon attacked her." Derek growled.

"No he-."

"HE WHAT!" Tori shouted , her eyes flaring as she looked at me horrified.

"No, Tori. Simon he's not-."

"That doesn't matter right now. Tori, take her and clean her up." Derek growled pushing me gently but firmly towards Tori who grabbed my shoulder. He turned and started to walk back towards the porch his hands shaking.

"Wha-NO!" I spun around reaching for Derek as I realized where he was going, pain seared through my arm as my injured wrist protested. Derek stopped and turned back, probably only to stop me from fighting against Tori. "No! You stay right there!" I shouted at him returning his glare. "Don't you dare move a muscle! You are too angry to think clearly." His eyes remained sharp as they stared down mine. But I didn't dare falter in my own. "I'll go get cleaned up, ONLY if you stay put. Otherwise I'm just going to run back there too."

Tori patted me on the shoulder opening the door to the bathroom. "Yes that's right, behave mutt or we'll get your neutered. That's sure to calm you down." She pushed me inside. "Come on miss bossy pants. Now what's all this about Simon attacking you?"

Derek growled as he leaned on the doorframe, his muscles tense as he looked in the direction of Simon and Kit.

"Derek, please. Simon wasn't in control." I hissed trying to get him to understand as Tori took a warm wet cloth to my head. "Simon's possessed. I think it's the Demon, I don't know how long it's had him but I need too…"

"Really? Can you be so sure?" Tori said shocked.

"I know it is. This Demon, it's like it's obsessed with me and -!" I yelped and jumped away from her as she put some iodine on the cut and then accidently put pressure on my injured wrist trying to hold me down. Tori hissed and apology a held my hand more gently in hers. Then she placed some gauze and a bandage over my cut before trying to clean up the dry blood on my face. "I mean he's been completely horrible to everyone lately. Especially you and Derek. Almost like he's been trying to split you two up…"

"He didn't just throw her against the wall. He had her pinned! I didn't realize anything was wrong…" Derek whispered from the doorway, his shoulders hunched over, Both me and Tori looked over at him cautiously. "Till I smelt your blood…" He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Why couldn't I hear you?"

"It was a spell, but Derek he-."

"**Don't**!" He growled through his teeth. "STOP, defending him Chloe…Look at you. LOOK at what he did to you." I scrunched up my face and I looked down at my wrist. It was bad, possibly broken. I hissed from the shock of it, Tori held it and tried to keep it as level as possible. She held up my other arm and hissed when she saw another bruise forming from where he had shoved me.

"Derek I think we have a wrist cast in that cupboard." Tori pointed towards the closet in the corner. He went over and began to rummage through it.

I looked back at him slowly as he took my hand and put it gently in the cast. "Are you mad at me?"

"No! No, no I'm not mad at you. This wasn't your fault." Derek pleaded shocked, his shoulders falling as he held my injured hand. "Why would I blame you for this?"

"It wasn't Simon's fault either…." I looked from Tori to Derek, trying to plead with them but I could still see so much anger and doubt in their eyes. "I have to do something, you can't tell me to not help him. He's your brother!"

"Brother or not, I don't trust him around you anymore. Not after this." Derek started.

"For the first time in forever, I agree with Derek." Tori looked at me, her face stern. "Chloe, you look like you've been through the ringer. And you're so…any man who would raise a hand against a woman, well they lose my trust and vote of confidence instantly. Simon has looked on edge for weeks, I just wish I would've done something about it the other day. I should have confronted him more, so that this outburst would've been directed at me not you. I would have sent that boy to the cleaners. Like I'm going to the next time I…" She stopped abruptly as a loud bang came from the end of the hallway.

We all starred after. _**What now!**_I thought, the past few days were turning in to a living hell. Another bang, and Tori stepped past Derek. "I'll check it out…" She said, running down the hall worried.

Derek took a step in front of me, shielding me from anything that might come down the hall. We both starred after Tori, a few seconds pasted when someone yelled angrily in the distance. I couldn't make it out but Derek's body went into fight mode at the sound of it. Soon after that, more screams and yells had both of us tense. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I realized that I could feel multiple spells being fired. "Stay here." Derek growled as he made to move back down the hall.

"Like hell!" I said grabbing his arm, making sure to cradle my bad wrist close to my chest. He didn't protest but made sure I stayed behind him as we dashed back to where we had left everyone.

It was like the side of the house had just exploded. Dust was everywhere, paper floating in the air. I starred in horror at what I was looking at. Ethan and Jack were on the ground both sporting sizable head wounds. Kit was standing next to Ethan, cradling his arm, which was a bloody and mutilated mess. We came just in time to see Tori jump off what use to be the back of the house and into the yard. Her eyes were wide with rage, blood soaking her chest.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" She screamed into the woods, her words echoing through the trees.

Simon was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened!" Derek shouted rushing towards his dad who was frozen to the spot his eyes out of focus. He looked defeated, so pale and drained, a broken man. Derek looked around desperate, "DAD! Where's Simon? What happened?"

….

**DONOTOWNDARKESTPOWERS! READ MORE KELLY ARMSTRONG PPL!**

**Okay sorry if this chapter was a bit disturbing, but I wanted my villain to be something worth writing about. I know most everyone already realized that Simon was possessed, NOBIGSHOCKERTHERE! Oh well. It's a fanfic, it's not like Im actually writing anything worth publishing.**

**No Simon isn't in control, you should realize that the minute he raised a hand against Chloe. The Demon is using Simon, his emotions and doubts. I wanted a scene where Simon had Chloe completely boxed in, with no hope. Simon being used as a puppet, someone Chloe cares deeply about, so she'd feel helpless and desperate to save him. **

**Again sorry if anyone was disturbed by my writing. But I did give you some warning….should I change the rating of this story from teen to mature now? I didn't intend for it to b this dark in the beginning it's just the way it came out….**

**Wanted to post the next chapter right after this one, so I wasn't going to leave you on a cliffhanger again. But I don't think I'll have the time and I really want to update this story as much as possible. So I'll leave u with some small spoilers for the next few chapters: **

**William Trip, New York, and more Ghost hunters ;3**

**Review please!**

**MoST APRECIATED! **


	11. Chapter 11: Pack

"Not to be the constant bitch, but who the fuck do they think they are?" Tori growled cradling her stomach.

We were all huddled together in the corner of the living room. And by "we" I mean Me, Tori and Jack. Each of us sporting new bandages. Ethan had been in bad shape after his encounter so he had not been able to attend to anyone else's wounds. He had taken one look at his own blood in the mirror and had fainted. For a healer he wasn't doing the greatest job. Jack and I were only sporting minor head wounds and my wrist was badly sprained, it was Tori who was in bad shape. At first I didn't realize how bad it was, it was only when Lauren had forced her to get medical attention did anyone really realize how much blood she had lost.

From what the two of them had told me, Simon had gone completely berserk minutes after Derek and I had left. Kit had been trying to get him to explain what he had done, when he started mumbling to himself. That's when he had started casting spells, knocking everyone away from him. When Tori had come in on the scene, he had been shouting at himself in gibberish. It wasn't an incantation, she had said, more like an alien language. Tori had tried to calm him down when he blasted her hard in the chest with a strange spell before blowing up the side of the house with the flick of his wrist and escaping.

"Here we are, three highly functioning adults, sitting at the kids table. Again." Tori growled. Her eyes half opened. I rubbed her shoulder, the truth was that Lauren had asked us to watch over Tori and make sure she didn't overdo anything, Tori had just mistaken it as the baby treatment. Lauren had taken care of the physical damage and forced her to drink orange juice. But that's when she noticed that it really wasn't the loss of blood causing Tori pain, there was magical damage there that she didn't understand.

Loud heavy footsteps on the front porch made everyone jump. Derek opened the door, looking livid. He had taken off running in Simon's direction the minute we had entered the completely destroyed porch. That had been two hours ago, he had called to let everyone know where he was thirty minutes earlier when he had lost Simon's trail.

"Nothing?" I asked, holding on to hope.

"No…" Derek growled falling into the chair; his shirt was drenched in sweat. I handed him what was left of my lemonade, which he drained in one gulp. "I don't know how he got so far ahead of me. I should've been able to catch up to him." Derek mumbled rubbing his temples in frustration. "His trail went to the Johnson's' farm, he hotwired their truck and that's the last whiff I got as he headed to the Highway, heading east…"He took a deep breath. "How long until we roll out of here?"

"Myrtle's people will be here in about an hour." I said looking him over, other than the fatigue he looked fine. His shoulder looked a bit stiff but that was to be expected. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine, I just need a shower and I'll be…How about Tori?" He said lifting his head and looking in her direction. Obviously catching the scent of her dried blood.

"Just peachy." She hissed, "but forget that, can you hear them?" She jerked her head in the general direction of Kits study.

Derek closed his eyes and everyone went quiet. "Yea…They don't realize I'm back yet…"

"Well?"

"S'not good…" He mumbled leaning in closer to us so he could whisper, he held up a hand as he listened. Two minutes went by before he looked up. "if Husht gets a hold of Simon, I don't think it will end well…She's more concerned about destroying the demon than anything else…"

"What's dad saying?" Tori sat up her face twisted into a snarl.

Derek looked at her concerned. "He hasn't said anything…" He rubbed his neck, "this isn't good. They're basically going to take us to a safe house and lock us up there till everything is finished. That means they're going to take Simon down themselves."

"We can't let them do that! What if they hurt him?" I hissed. I felt completely responsible for him, it was my fault he was in this situation after all. I felt my gut twist. It always seemed to be my fault. It had been my fault for trusting Rae with our escape from the Lyle house. My fault that Liz had freaked out in the first place. My fault for the demon…._Can I get nothing right?_ I caught myself thinking, the thought was so painful I had to shake it off and ignore its existence.

"What can we do?" Jack mumbled. It was obvious that the young paranormal investigator was trying his hardest to keep up with all the supernatural going on around him. "Have any of you ever faced a Demon before? I'm sure there's more than some few priestly mumbo jumbo you need to have. Is that something witches can do? Tori's is powerful, from what i've been told. And you all think Chloe's magic is, and Im sure that having a Werewolf on your side can't hurt your chances...but It does not even matter, I guess. We don't know where the kid ran off too. If he's got wheels now, there's no way were going to find him."

"Okay, now that Debbie Downer has had _her_ two cents," Tori snapped hitting Jack rather hard in the arm. She looked to Derek and me, her face overly confident. "We've done this before. **We** found Dad on our own; **we **took down an those bastards almost single handily. And that was three years ago when we didn't know shit. Finding my dumbass jerk brother should not be that difficult."She smiled. "And we have Chloe. The ultimate weapon. If she could control the demon three years ago when she had no control, then the sorry bastard should be running for the hills."

"You haven't been paying attention. **He has**." Derek growled.

"Tori's right. We could save him." I said looking at Derek.

"Chloe," He looked at me concerned. "I'm sorry but what you did three years ago was not controlling the situation, it was ignorance. Your skills are powerful but even I don't think you can stand against a Demon on the offense."

"Gee, Thanks for the vote of confidence." I mumbled under my breath.

Derek's face twisted in a half smirk, half frown."Even if we we're sure of Chloe's capability. G.I. Joe is right, we don't know where Simon went. It is different then last time too, Dad had means of getting a hold of us and he was in a right state of mind. Simon is none of those things right now. There is no telling where this Demon is going to take him, now we have to assume that Simon is the backseat driver to his own meat suit. None of his decisions will be his own."

"What if you transformed?" Tori asked looking at Derek. "Chloe said that a werewolf especially in mutt-dog mode, can feel a packs presence?"

"That won't work."Derek growled closing his eyes.

"Why? You're always going on about pack this and pack that. What use is it then?" Tori snapped throwing her hands up in the air. Jack grabbed her shoulder and forced her to sit still.

Derek sighed, "It won't work. No matter how close I am to Simon, he isn't considered 'true' pack in my wolf's mind. A packs bond is different from a family bond. The only person it would even consider or try to convince it in the category is Chloe. But even now it doesn't see her 'officially' because…" He caught himself his eyes darting from me to the ground, he before slowly continuing, "my mate, you know."

"Wait what? You have to convince it? You mean like talk to it?" Tori said shocked. "Are you sure you're not just hearing voices bro?"

He didn't get a chance to snap back at her. Something outside had caught his attention. Derek growled a very wolf like growl that brought out the primal prey fight or flight reflex in all of us. He stood up, all previous signs of fatigue gone an in instant. He moved towards the door and out the house and off the porch, the rest of us followed suit. I felt his demeanor change instantly. "What is it Derek?" I said cautiously.

"It's him." Derek whispered.

"Who?" Tori asked. He motioned for everyone to follow quietly as possible. We walked to the edge of the driveway where we could not be seen from the porch as easily. Then we followed Derek's gaze towards the woods near the edge of the driveway.

Slowly a black shadow emerged from the low bramble. I felt relief as I recognized the figure; it was a black werewolf, it was William. I looked back at the house. Myrtle and the others had not realized we had left yet. Best to keep it that way.

Derek took a step forward to put himself between us and William. The wolf approached cautiously. He stopped a few yards away from Derek, sitting down but keeping his gaze fixed on Derek. They were seeing who would break first.

I knew not to speak but had to reach up and grab Jack before he started firing off questions. I shook my head. In the moment I was distracted by Jack, someone had broken the starring contest. I wasn't sure who, but William stood up and shook his tail.

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming?" Derek growled looking at me.

"I was planning on it, but the whole Simon situation got me distracted." I said cautiously.

"Now can I ask who or what that is? A day ago I would've said mutant dog, but yesterdays experience taught me never to trust my eyes." Jack asked once the silence was indeed broken.

"Jack, meet the estranged family, this is Derek's uncle. William G. Tripp. The family resemblance is uncanny don't you think?" Tori smiled. William sniffed the air, cautiously walking past Derek and bounded over to Tori who smiled uneasy as she patted him on the head. He then focused on Jack who stopped his eyes wide as the wolf circled him and sniffed his feet. "Don't worry. Will's got a soft spot for 'puppies'."

"Well I'm not really a puppy am I?" Jack whispered his muscles tense. "Five years of chasing ghosts in old hospitals, and bigfoot's in bug infested woods. And in two days I've seen Witches, Wizards, Demons and two full fledged Werewolves. Next thing you know Chloe's going to admit she's a vampire, and Twilight is based on real life experiences. Now that would be the downer to this day, even compared to being blasted by a demon." Will let out a huff of air but left Jack alone rushing back to where I was standing.

"Cut that out." Derek growled when William spun around like a puppy chasing his tail. "Stop showing off." I pushed Derek in the arm and knelt down on the ground to give William a hug. Derek might not like his uncle, but that hate didn't transfer to me. William was a good soul, his morals for right and wrong were the best we had ever encountered. In addition, he put our lives above all else.

"I've got some of Derek's cloths in the trunk of the car." I said scratching his ear and moving towards the old Buick.

"Can't we just make him stay like that." Derek growled, putting his hand on the trunk and making it impossible to open. "This way he can't talk." He hissed. I glared up at him.

"This is William you're talking about. Either let him borrow your clothes or he will just walk around stark naked. What will the neighbors think if they drive by and peek in the yard? Poor old Miss Wilkins will have a heart attack." I swatted his hand away, and surprisingly he moved without any more fuss.

William's ears lay flat on his head as he snorted in Derek's general direction, gently grabbed the shirt and sweatpants out of my hands and rushed past all of us behind Kit's van. A faint growl and a whimper was replaced with a very human cough.

Once he was done he came out from behind the van stretching. His long thin black hair hung down almost to his shoulders. He and Derek looked very much alike; William however had much more narrower face, etched with thin lines of age. Derek's cloths were almost a perfect fit. With his reappearance, a wave of power fell over the group. As his carefree wolf, it was hard to feel the amount of danger he carried with him. He once told me it was a defense mechanism, something he had built up to mask the wolf amongst humans in such a tight knit city as New York. In his human form however, it was hard to do so, and made him much more intimidating.

"Sorry about that, rude, just seemed more environmentally healthy than renting a car just for a few hundred miles." He cracked his neck before turning his brilliant gold eyes on me and smiling. "Hello Miss Chloe. It is good to see you in well-." He came over and looked more closely at the bandage on my head, "somewhat whole at least—condition. I'm hoping that this was an accident."He glared at Derek, whose muscles tensed and his face twisted in anger as he realized that he was being accused.

"Not exactly," I said quickly smiling trying to break the new tension. "It's good to see you again too William." Derek pulled me away from him; he never liked William getting to close. William looked to his nephew and then back to me before letting out a sigh. "I see your tag team of rebellious youths has grown." He looked at Jack who flinched under his gaze.

"The more the merrier." Tori said holding out a hair tie to him. "I'm sorry, I can't take you serious with that greasy mop you call hair."

"Why thank you, Miss Victoria." William politely bowed his head and accepted it, pulling his hair back into its usual ponytail. "I do look rather raggedy with it down, don't I?" I have to admit, the ponytail made him look much more refined, adding to the freighting demeanor he could carry. "The air around here is tense. I think me and you have a lot to talk about." William said looking around the yard a bit before glaring at Derek. "If you wouldn't mind, I only need a minute with the boy." He looked at me bowing his head once again before gesturing to Derek to follow him behind the van.

Derek growled, pulling me closer and kissing me on the forehead following his uncle reluctantly.

"I'm sensing family rivalry?" Jack said rubbing his neck to relive his tension as I lead them a bit further away so the two would have more privacy. "You guys would be better reality TV than half the shit out there." He let out a sigh, as if to relieve his built up tension. "That man…Werewolves sure do live up to their name."

"Should we go tell Dad Will is here?" Tori looked at me; her face was pale and was now using Jack as a crutch, leaning her whole weight on him.

"Kit wanted William to check on Derek. That is exactly what's happening, there's no need to bring him in on this." I said and Tori nodded, an unspoken agreement was forming among us. If Kit and Lauren were going to leave them out of the loop, then so would they. The moment away from William and Derek gave my mind time to wander. What would Myrtle do to Simon if she got a hold of him? Would Kit allow her to do it? There was one thing I was sure of, I was not going to sit idly by and let them lock me away while they handled the Demon.

Locking us away would make them no better than the Edison Group. The SCC may think they're doing the right thing, but all they would be doing is make enemies out of them. "What do you think we should do about Simon." I said locking my eyes with Tori's.

Tori smiled, recognizing the determination in my face. "We do whatever it takes." Tori said her hand to her chest. "If they think we'll just go quietly and hide in their little 'safe house' they've got another thing coming." Jack looked down at her worried. "What do you have in mind?"

"It's risky, dangerous and completely idiotic. So they is probably a lot of room left for outside input. But one thing is for sure…." I looked back at the house. "We have to deal with Simon alone, or we risking loosing Simon all together."

**WILLIAMS POV **

"So the Simon boy is possessed by the very Demon from three years ago. I thought I smelt something fishy back then, it all happened to fast and easy to be witchcraft." I looked at my young nephew who watched me cautiously, leaning on the van, his bright green eyes piercing the dark bangs that hung in his face.

"You're worried I can tell." I said reassuringly. "As you should be, a Demon is no laughing matter by any means." I watched his eyes tighten and slightly dart in the direction of the others. We both could hear clearly the three of them contemplating ways of escape and rescue. His woman, Chloe, she was the instigator on the plan. She also was the spark to the Demon's rampage; the young wizard was simply a means to an end. I had to admit, my nephew was going to have his hands full with that one.

"She's in danger. I can't let her go after Simon, that's just what the Demon wants." Derek said looking at the ground almost ashamed. It was clear he was in war with his inner wolf. Something I could relate with for once. The pain of losing my beloved so early in life and then the recent loss of my brother and dear sister. It had practically torn me in two, the wolf's rage and desire for blood conflicting with my own remorse and need for control. The young boy never knew his parents so he had never felt the pain and emptiness their murders had left. The Edison group had not only stolen my only family, but had kidnapped and dissected the nephew I never knew I had. It is easy to say that once I had realized that Derek was Zachariah's son….it was beyond painful to say the least.

The boy looked at me through his bangs, curious to my silence. It was easy to see through the wall the boy had built around himself over the years. Having grown up around and made to assimilate into the human culture, such a fragile and at times alien race. He would have had to carefully plan every step, every word, and after time would have had to push away any physical or emotional connections. A life no one should have to live. My trained eyes could see however, he wanted help. To me, he was practically screaming.

"But you cannot tell her to stay behind either." I said rubbing my neck; my muscles were still tense from the change. "If you hold her back she will resent you. That would not be wise." Derek looked away his eyes narrowed once again. "Derek. I understand why you avoid me."

"No you don't." Derek said under his breath.

"Yes I do. I am probably the only person who will ever understand." I looked deep into the eyes that so resembled my little brother's. For a moment, it was as if Zachariah had never left, only reverted to his unsure defiant teenage self once again. Looking to me desperate for guidance, but in the end scorning my advice all the same. "Werewolves that are born into the life will always have an advantage to the bitten Wolves. We carry with us the strength of our forefathers. Each generation receiving our father's burden, it is not a gift nor is it a curse. The wolf…He is strong, but only as strong as you let him be."

"I've got it under control." Derek said looking determined as he met my gaze.

"Your father and I, we both struggled in our youth to control the wolf within. We, however, dealt with this in our late twenties, the first change does not occur commonly until the age of twenty-one when all the organs and bones in the body are at their full potential. In your case, the tampering done by the Edison Group speed the process up rapidly. I had hoped maybe that they had done something right, had cured you of this dangerous time, allowed you full control…."

The boy who had been listening intently suddenly spoke up. "Then how the hell do you think you know what I'm going through…" I held up a hand to stop him, I could understand that he was frightened. The boy stood up straight, level with me, his hands balled into fists.

"Your wolf sees me as threat, am I right?" I asked. Derek hesitated and then nodded. "That is because your wolf is so dominant. Most the men in our family were, and two dominant wolves will find it hard to corporate especially when one is not in full control yet. I know your pain, Derek because your father and I fought for most of our lives, and I would not expect you to lack any such bite." I took a deep breath, daylight was thinning and I would not have time for the full lesson, not when the young girl feet away was plotting a countrywide search for a needle in a haystack. "I know what you are most afraid of. Your woman, Miss Chloe, you are afraid of losing her."

Pain flashed across the young wolfs face as he confirmed it. "When dominant wolves come across their mate-for-life so young, it makes them more temperamental. More dangerous. I have noticed you fight for control, and I must say I am impressed. I for one was nowhere near as confident," I smiled as the old memory flashed before my eyes like old grainy film, "I nearly tore your fathers arm off once for simply looking at my Rosanne…."I stopped. It was not healthy to dwell on those times. I shook the memories away as a dog does fleas. "Chloe is a strong, independent woman. However, she is like a ticking time bomb; her powers could rip her apart at any moment, if the world does not get to her first. And your wolf is desperate to shield her, and keep her for your own. If you do that, it will end in tears and bloodshed my boy."

Derek looked towards her, as if through sheer will he could see her through the van as clearly as he could hear her. Carefully and very measured, I placed my hand on his shoulder. He did not look at me but I could tell he was listening and waiting. "You won't hurt her Derek, never intentionally. However, your wolf will cause countless problems if you do not deal with it soon. Your method of trying to suppress it and snuff it out is like trying to cure a brain tumor with aspirin. It will work only for fleeting moment before it grows beyond help. You must learn to become one; you and your wolf must find a common ground that can form a bridge, anchoring you into reality."

"But time is running out, and we have more pressing matters to discuss." I sighed, feeling emotionally worn for the first time in years, although I made sure not to show it. "Derek, you cannot let Mrs. Husht find the Simon boy." Derek hid his shock well, but not well enough. "I know all about the SCC's motives, and where they are the closest thing to justice and lawfulness the supernatural kind will ever have, they also are looking for advancement and more power. Mrs. Husht's motives are good, she wishes to teach Chloe her ways, but more importantly, she wants to create a relationship with her. One that would assure Chloe joining with her and the SCC in the end."

"She wants her on their side, because of her powers." Derek said, obviously already concluding and merely voicing his fears. "If she gets a hold of Simon, what will she do?"

"She won't do anything. And that's the problem. A demon's power is limitless, or at least it is believed so."

"They plan to capture Simon and study him?" Derek growled his face twisting in anger.

"Yes, it is difficult for a demon to create an anchor within a living being for such a long period of time. If it has lasted within him for this long without killing him, it must mean that it cannot leave willingly. It is trapped. A Necromancer is our, his and _it's _only hope."

"Chloe is not ready." Derek said quickly raising his hand to his head and running his fingers through his hair. "She's never done anything like this, and can't be ready-."

"Is it Chloe that's not ready? Or you?" I said locking his eyes with my own. "I'm going to help you Derek. Like it or not, were pack. Even if we answer a different alpha. I will always be there to help you; you, Chloe and yes even the young wizard. But you have to **let me** help you."

Derek stared at him unsure for a while and then nodded. It didn't show on my face, because I was trained to hide such overwhelming emotion. He would never know the warmth and life that had given my old bones, just with the slight acceptance I had received from the boy. "We don't have plan." Derek growled looking back at Chloe's direction. "Chloe is going in blind; it's not enough to go on."

"Derek," I smiled the wicked snarl of my wolf showing through the human façade. "If there is one thing I always have, it is a plan." Derek looked at me unsure and then back at the van. Something clicked and he looked back. His face set. Zachariah may never have lived to see his son grow into a man, but from the determination I saw reflected in those young eyes, I knew he would have been proud.

**Do Not own Darkest Powers. Read Kelly Armstrong.**

**Sorry for the VERY late update. College got very stressful and emotional and I couldn't find enough time to do anything extra for myself for the entire semester. Now I'm on break and I plan on cranking out this story. The absence also gave me time to think more about the structure of the plot and helped me further it so I guess in the end it helped, that is if I kept any of my previous readers. I'm guessing some got mad because of my absence. Sorry again. **

**I just read Kelly Armstrong's companion novellas to the Darkest powers. I CAN"T believe I didn't know about them until now I feel like a loser :C but I loved "Belonging" About Derek's family. I had a feeling before that he might have been one of the Cains just decided to make up my own for my story. Seeing how I didn't use the Cain's as Derek's family I'm going to act like that story never happened. Opps. I am going to use Derek's real dad's name, Zach as you can see I'm just going to call him Zachariah. Wish I would've known about the Belonging before I created William for my Necromanced story….sad face…**

**Also just discovered her new books. I really have been in a cave for the past two yrs….my bad!**

**Comment! Review and leave a comment, I enjoy the good and the bad even the solitary smiley face. **

**;D**


	12. Chapter 12: Forgivness

**SIMON's POV**

"_WHAT'S GOING ON?" I had heard Derek shout, but it was like he was miles away. My body was shaking, my ears ringing and my throat painfully dry. Almost as if, the world around me had slowed to almost nothing. All I could do was stare in pain and disbelief at her, at what I had done done. Her bright blue eyes were wide with terror as she starred at me, blood streaming down her face. _

_I had done that to her. All these years constant companionship, from the start I had been desperate to help her, to protect her. And It was me who had hurt her. I felt the bile rise in my throat. How could I-what was-but I didn't mean it-it couldn't have been…._

_I watched her run away from me down the hall, or was Derek pulling her away? It didn't matter, I knew she would never want to see me again….I was suddenly hit with all I had been forced to say to her again. Every word was like a knife being jabbed into my chest. Forced? Was I really being forced, or had It all been me? My gut twisted when her screams echoed in my head over and over again._

_My God, what have I done?_

"_**She's getting away."**_

_No. She needs to get away. My head was pounding, my lungs felt like they were going to burst. I wanted to scream, to cry, anything just to make it stop._

"_**Go after them."**_

_No! I ran my hands through my hair digging my nails hard into my skin, as if I could pull the voice out. Somewhere far off I could hear my dad shouting at me, I couldn't make out any words but I could hear the concern in his tone building. Dad….Help. Please help me!_

"_**We have a Job to do. Now go."**_

_NO! IM NOT LISTENING!_

"_**You are Pathetic."**_

_Not listening. Not listening. I can't hear it._

"_**You attacked her. Her blood is on YOUR hands. Now finish what you started."**_

_No…please. No more._

"_**Fine, then let me."**_

_I felt myself knocked back by a gull force of wind, but I was standing still. I tried to raise my hands and check if I was okay. But they didn't move. I tried to speak and then realized I was already speaking…no I was screaming. Words I never had heard before, I was even more shocked to realize that they were powerful dark magic. For the first time I was aware of all the people around me. I noticed them in time to see them all get knocked back by a blast of magic. Ethan and Jack hit the ground hard, splitting Ethan's head slightly above his left brow. Lauren and Kit were able to brace themselves in time and only stumbled to the ground shaken. _

_NO! I screamed. But instead more curses, and spells, and gibberish came from my mouth. _

_That's when Tori ran into the room, she noticed everyone laying strung across the ground. I could see her anger…and something else. A giant cloud…a swirling mass of unkempt destruction. The other me had an obvious pang of jealousy as it wished to get it's hand on that much power. _

_Tori shouted at me, but I couldn't understand, it was muffled and distorted. She pushed me, hard in the shoulders. I wanted to scream at her to run, but I knew it was no use. My gibberish continued as I shouted back at her, my eyes must have been livid because for the first time I saw true fear within her eyes. The circling mass above her faltered only to grow double in size as she turned her terror into rage, raising a hand to cast a spell. _

_She was to slow. My hand reached up and grabbed her. No I didn't grab her, my hand went right through her…..Right through her chest. Her eyes were wide as she starred into mine. I didn't have to hear what she said to understand her question, I could see her lips form one word. **Why?**_

_Blood streamed out around my hand and down her chest as I felt my hand twist and snap something within before removing my hand…not bone, or organ….something else. Whatever it was, the cloud above her twisted and in a second disappeared within the hole leaving only a slight gash as evidence he had __touched her. _

_Oh God. Oh God. I felt myself screaming even though my voice remained gibberish. Tori staggered back, her hands flying to her chest. She looked confused as she felt the small cut, and gaping at the amount of blood on her chest, obviously questioning what had just happened. She looked at me and took a step closer. I raised my hand and she stopped._

_Run! Goddamnit. Stop. Stop! STOP! It was useless nothing I said nothing I tired….it was like I was a ghost…nothing._

_An explosion. And then …._

….

My eyes snapped opened, sweat thick on my face. I spun around shocked, three years on the run had sharpened my reflexes. My heart pounding hard in my chest as my body responded to my fight or flight action. I wasn't on the porch, or at home, hell I wasn't even sure if I was in Missouri anymore…The taxi cabs rushed past me, and the obvious stink from the sewers caused my nose to cringe. The street signs looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where…

I had sworn that only moments ago I had been standing down Tori on the porch, had it all been a dream? I felt the corner of my mouth twitch and a wave a relief fall over me. None of that had happened. But then….where was everyone else…?

I was standing in the middle of a deserted sidewalk the sun was just beginning to set above the tall buildings in the distance. Horns and alarms from cars also echoed not too far off. I went to scratch my head when I noticed the red on my hand. I looked closer. Dried blood.

Oh God. No…

I rushed over to a nearby window to an abandoned shop. Faint stains of blood crusted around my nose where the blood and on the back of my hand, it must have come from when…when Derek punched me in the face. Then I noticed the dried blood on my forehead….Chloe's blood.

I scrambled to rub all the traces of it away, when I heard footsteps joining me on the sidewalk. An attempt to hide I rushed into an alleyway behind a trash bin and under a fire escape. The strength in my legs gave way and I slid down the cold stone on to the pavement. What had I done?

The full weight of the situation hit me once again, it felt as if I was being run over by tank over and over again. It had been me….

"No…no….no…." Fighting back tears, I tried to calm myself down but it was becoming impossible. So instead, I tried to accept what had happened, tried to move above of it. I had attacked Chloe, hurt her, thrown her…Attempted to fight Derek and failed miserably. Attacked Dad and Lauren while speaking in tongues. And then…had attacked Tori, I had hurt her badly too.

So to sum it up. Everyone I loved and cared for, I had attacked, maimed, and violated. _Deep breath Simon._ I could feel the panic rising again. _Deep Breath._ It was helping. And that's how I stayed for a good hour. Rocking back and forth, calming myself the best I could.

Once the hysteria had subsided, it became much clearer to think. I had runaway. Obviously, blacked out and somehow ended up in the city. _How'd I get here? _I shook my head, I'll worry about that later when I knew where 'here' was. Okay, what did I have to go on? Reaching into my pockets, I felt the customary bulge from my case of emergency insulin I always carried. Good. I had enough to keep me going for a while. I probably should find some food soon, my wallet tucked in next to it reassured me of at least twenty bucks and an emergency credit card set up by Dad.

There was something, however, I didn't recognize in the opposite pocket. Once my fingers wrapper around the cool plastic I remembered instantly. Derek's cell phones. I pulled it out. I never had turned it on this morning so its battery should be full. I flipped it open and turned it on. Immediately it notified me of eighteen missed calls and five voicemails the last being from one hour ago. All from Derek, Chloe and Tori…. I hesitated, my throat dry.

I looked around, it was getting dark and I could hear the nightlife around me starting to become active. Cheering and loud music from a group of men were not too far off. The wind had a bit of a cold bite to it, was I near water? I looked down at the phone again. What else could I do? Sit here in my little corner and hide until sunrise? Or venture out into the strange city at night? I needed help…I wanted help. Placing the phone's receiver to my ear, I waited for the worse.

"_**Five new voicemails."**_ Said the politely robotic woman on the machine. "_**First new Message."**_

"_Simon," _It was Chloe. "_Simon please, PLEASE answer the phone! I know you're scared and upset right now, but we can fix this. Please don't do this. I can help you, this thing-…. -__**BEEP**__." _

Her voice sounded startled near the end, she probably was interrupted leaving the message. Chloe….She really was so self-less to even consider forgiving me. I sat there amazed, tears coming to my eyes.

"_**Second new Message."**_

"_Listen you." _Tori. _"When I get my hands on your scrawny little neck I am going to beat the living daylights out of you. You'll wish you were never born. Got that? With that said, you get your: Little. Cowardly. Chicken. Ass back here and answer for what happen. I don't care if you're playing shotgun to a demon, hell I don't care if Lucifer himself is riding your ass. You get back here. Back home. Right Fucking Now. Don't make me come looking for you cause I will find you and when I do-__**BEEP!**__" _

I flinched at the thought of what the machine had caught off. That was to be expected, however. I knew Tori would be angry, she's was always angry.

"_**Third new Message."**_

"_Simon, I don't blame you." _Chloe again._ "You have to call me back. Please call me back. I know you were possessed and it's all my fault this happened. The Demon is just using you to get to me. Please. Let us come and get you. There is still time to fix this. We are family Simon. Were all freaking out about you. Me, Kit, Lauren, Tori won't stop stomping around the house, Derek chased after you but lost you once you got in that hotwired truck. We all just want you home safe. Please be safe….__**BEEP.**__"_

So I had hotwired a truck….is that how I got here? Then where was the truck…Derek was worried? Out of everyone, I was sure he was ready to skin me alive. If Tori didn't beat him to it.

"_**Fourth new Message."**_

"_SIMON!" _ Chloe, but much more angry this time. "_This isn't funny anymore! Husht is planning something, something bad. If they find you before we do, I don't know what will happen but it won't be good. I wouldn't put it pass them to 'accidently' kill you over this. I will not see you hurt because of my mistake. MY MISTAKE! Do you hear me? If it wasn't for me this never would've happened. That shit wasn't you, it was the Demon. Now Man Up and CALL ME!...__**BEEP.**__"_

I had heard Chloe angry before. Had heard her disgusted. I could hear the patience finally running out in her voice…

"_**Fifth new Message."**_

After a long silence, it thought maybe Chloe had called to apologize for losing her temper and just decided against it. But then I could hear Derek's casual cough as he tried to clear his throat and find the right words, talking low as if worried someone was going to overhear. "….._listen. Where ever you are. Sit tight and call me….I guess this explains your attitude that past few days. I should've realized it was escalating…should've listened…But that doesn't matter were going find you and bring you back. Simon I'm not going to lie, I'm pissed. I don't think- if Chloe hadn't stopped me I would've killed-No. Listen. I want you to call me back. Call me….everything we've gone through as brothers… gone too far to lose each other now…Call m-__**BEEP."**_

I slowly closed the phone and starred at it in the faint light. How could they care so much….

"_**They don't care, you pathetic fool."**_

I jumped looking around, I was alone in the cold dark alleyway. But I swore I had heard someone…No. Not her again…

"_**You're just fooling yourself." **_Her voice was like having my body dosed in numbing fluid. I say 'her' but I don't know why…I realize I can't actually hear a voice…it's more like I _feel_ it rather than hear it. _**"You just want everyone to love you. And you'll make lies of acceptance when you don't get your way. Like I said: Pathetic."**_

"Shut up." I growled under my breath closing my eyes and covering my ears with my hands. Block it out. Block it out.

"_**We don't have time for this fool."**_ No I wasn't going to let it affect me ever again. Not after what it made me do. The others, Tori, Chloe, even Derek. They still cared and wanted me home. They're was still hope, I couldn't give in.

"_**They don't want you. Now stand up, we've got work to do."**_

I flipped the phone open and pushed a random number on the speed dial. Each ring from the phone felt like an eternity. Every second I spent with just the voice in my head, I felt like it could be the last second I would be in control. Please pick up. Someone…I don't care who, just please….

"SIMON!"

"T…Tori." I said barely audible, my mouth felt numb.

"Simon where are you? Are you okay?" She sounded relieved and panicked at the same time.

"I'm….I'm…..Tori I don't know where I am….I'm in some kind of city. There are big buildings nearby. And I umm…Tori I need help…." I said breathlessly. The strange voice was fighting to keep control, but I could feel it slipping away slowly.

"Calm down," She said, much more motherly then I ever thought Tori capable of. "Listen up okay? We are going to come and get you, I just need you to get up and find out where you are. Can you do that?"

"Um…N-No. I can't. Tori, She's trying to make me go somewhere. If I move…I move and she'll take control again…I can't let her…Oh God."

"Simon…" She paused. "Simon don't stop talking. I am going to get you through this. Okay? We're going to show this bitch demon whose boss, all right?"

"Yea." I tried to smile. "Thanks Tori I-I don't understand…It happened so fast…Is everyone okay?" My voice was becoming even more shaken as I felt the voice fade to nothing once more. It should've made me feel easier…but knowing that it was hiding within me was even more painful then feeling it.

"Pshh-of course! Don't forget, this group of ragtag mutant supernatural's are tough as nails. It will take more than a hormonal demon to shake us Bro. Don't worry about that, you have bigger problems heading your way. Listen. Husht and the SCC can't be trusted, or at least that's what Will says. So we are going to make a break for it the first chance we get. Me, Chloe, Derek, Jack and Will. We're going to get to you first."

"O-Okay." I said closing my eyes and concentrating.

"Good." I felt a bit of the old Tori snap back when she laughed. "I still owe you a good one to the face though. If this scars, I am going give ya one to match. Don't think I won't."

I sighed. Trying to laugh, but found that was still out of my reach. "Tori I-."

"Don't go apologizing just yet. Apologize when we meet up. But to do that I need you to get up and find out where you are. Do you think you can do that now?"

I look around, the sounds from the nearby men had died down and the rest of the night was quiet eerie and silent. "Yea…I think…" I stood up and gingerly made my way towards the opening of the alleyway. So far so good. I peek my head out, a few cars pass by but other than that, the streets are vacant. "Okay." I whispered walking down the sidewalk towards some buildings hoping for some kind of city marker.

"Do you see anything?" Tori asks, I notice her voice lowering. "Look for street addresses. Businesses. Anything that might have an address written on it?"

"Tori…" I took a deep breath as I looked down the road. I was poised on high vantage point as the road dipped down and speed towards a bypass and then…. "I'm in New York…I can see the City." I was starring at the skyline of Manhattan in the distance.

"What? How did you get that far?" Tori said shocked. "That's more than a few days drive; you've only been missing for nine hours! How-What…Did you get on a plane? No planes have been grounded in New York because of the electronic interferences and quakes…The closest working airport is in what? Washington?"

"I don't know…." Suddenly I feel as if something is pressing down hard on my chest, and breathing becomes more difficult. Tori can hear me gasping for breath.

"What's wrong? Simon what's happening?" Tori hisses.

"Tori….I…She's taking me back to…back to wher-." I tried to tell her what I could feel as the Demon let loose its motive. But the more I tried the more I couldn't breathe. Suddenly my head filled with smoke, I couldn't think, couldn't move. A sudden wave of energy knocked me back into my own conscious. I screamed curses as I realized what had happened. The Demon had taken control again.

"Simon? Simon are you okay?" Tori's voice echoed off the small speaker on the phone.

I felted my lips form a smile, a wicked non-human smile. _**"Tell my Mistress," **_the Demon made me say into the phone, _**"tell her I'm waiting. Good-day." **_And with that I hung up the phone.

"DON'T THINK I'M GOING TO SIT BACK AND LET YOU HAVE YOUR WAY AGAIN!" I screamed even though only the Demon would be able to hear.

"_**You won't have to. I will let you roam free once the chessboard is set; I have to keep you alive till then." **_The words echoed around me. I feel my throat go dry. _**"This body is weak. Your….body requires outside help to survive. It is broken. I won't relinquish control until the last moment. My plan will need the upmost timing in order to work and I can't have you passing out before then. So sit back! Enjoy the ride." **_I felt my body tremble with silent laughter. _**"This will be a ride you will never forget."**_

**Do not own Darkest powers**

**Hey, i planned to keep this up, two new chapters every three or four days. But I just recently lost a family member and I have alot of funeral preperations to go through. So there might be another hitais again, sorry for that but we don't plan for these things to happen and writing fanfiction kinda goes to the bottom of your list. Hope you guys like the story so far. Not to many chapters to go. The last story was 20 chapters so this one might be 20 to 25. Also am exicited about the new image portion of this site, maybe after all my problems have been settled i'll draw some cover pics to go along with these. That would be cool. seeing how i go to art school for a liviing.**

**Please Review!**


	13. Chapter 13: Revelations

**CHLOE'S POV **

This was, hands down, the most uncomfortable car ride I had ever experienced in my life, and that was saying something. There were **five** of us crammed into Derek's small Buick, with two of the five being full grown werewolves it didn't leave much wiggle room. And needless to say, but you could have cut the tension in the air with a knife. Jack was the one behind the wheel, too much of Derek's displeasure. William had called the shotgun seat, which left me, Derek, and Myrtle Husht packed uncomfortably close in the back.

Every few minutes I would glance over at Derek with an apologetic smile; it was obvious he was uncomfortable. Myrtle sat wedged between us and her perfume was enough to make my nose cringe. I couldn't even image what it was doing Derek's hypersensitive nose.

Derek caught me looking at him, his face twisted in an effort to ignore his surroundings. I could see that all the effort was making him close to passing out. He cursed under his breath, finally having had enough; and he lowered his window all the way, sticking his head halfway out and basking in the brisk and fresh air from the gusting highway. I held back a laugh; he looked far too much like a dog with his head out of the car, ears/hair flapping in the wind.

Myrtle looked at him confused. "It's still a bit chilly to have the windows down do you not think?"

Derek growled and William turned his head smiling. "Ma'am, I speak for my nephew and I think for the rest of the passengers, in the most polite manor possible, that your odor is beyond the capacity of our ability to endure. I believe the window is necessary."

She looked taken aback, turning to me with a quizzical pout. My face, at that moment, was scrunched up as I tried to breathe through my mouth, nodding in agreement with William. Myrtle brought a lock of her hair up to her nose, but she obviously didn't see anything wrong with the nineteen different flowerily scents forced into her perfume.

I looked out the window as the countryside disappeared into an all too familiar blur, _another: life over_. Good bye Chloe Blake, good bye perfect small town, good bye freedom, and in this case; hello forced supervised captivity. We were heading to a safe facility the SCC had prepared for us while they took care of our pursuers and located Simon. Myrtle had tried to explain how grand it was; with state of the art computers, premium gym and facilities, luxurious rooms and plenty of space. A recluse's dream home. No matter how she tried to put it, however, it didn't change Derek, Tori and mine's opinion. Four walls sometimes came with a price. A prison was still a prison and all the fancy words in the world wouldn't change that.

I tried to hide my smile from Myrtle as I rested my arm on the windowsill. The facility was located somewhere in California. But I had no inclination of going sunbathing. William's plan had been much more thought out then mine, and had a much more likelihood of succeeding. Simon's phone call last night had also helped with the direction we needed. Tori had found me immediately after the call, and explained everything that had happened. There were no words for the relief that I had felt at that moment. Simon was okay. Well as okay as we could have hoped.

We had a destination, a smaller searching ground, which just so happened to be right in William's backyard. I looked behind me and saw Tori sitting in the passenger front seat of Kit's van, driving just behind us. She saw me and waved weakly, smiling before resting her head back on the window.

I felt horrible leaving her behind to be assessable to Kit and Myrtle's rage. However, there was no way she was well enough to come with us. Ethan had dubbed her ailment, beyond his knowledge and power to heal. He said in order to discover what spell or dark magic had been cast on her she would need to be assessed by a Demonologist. Of which they employed a few in the California facility.

She had objected, but it was obvious that whatever Simon had done to her was affecting her physically and even on a supernatural level. She had been putting one of the last boxes in the van when she had accidently gotten a paper-cut and all the windows in the house had shattered out of their frames at once. Therefore, the rescue team would consist of Me, Jack, Derek and William. Now we only had one problem to solve: ditching Myrtle.

The skin under my wrist brace started to itch and I had to fight the urge to scratch it. I looked at my watch. I was wearing a flapped hat to conceal the bandage on my head as well. We would be stopping soon at a scheduled rest stop. The two black cars ahead of us were associates of Myrtles who were in charge of protecting us, so were the two driving the moving van behind Kit. I looked at William, unsure. We were good at daring escapes, but there was always that moment of unease. He seemed confident the plan would work. He saw me out of the corner of his eye and winked assuring. I smiled and looked back out my window.

My mind couldn't help but wonder to a strange conversation with William not to long before; we had already traveled four hours that night and had stopped at a rest stop so Tori could have a moment from carsickness. He had asked for a moment of my time, while Derek was busy buying food from the fast food joint across the street.

"_This will probably be the last time we have to speak alone for a few days, and I fear what I need to talk to you about is quite urgent." William said his voice low to insure he would not be overheard. He tried his best to keep his distance from me. I had grown accustomed to his presence over the years, when I had first meet him his wolf dominance-thing had been overwhelming. Now was different, I felt completely comfortable, even when his animal like golden eyes stared me down like they were now._

"_Okay." I said preparing myself for an onslaught of information that I would have to remember. William seldom said anything unless it was important. _

"_I need to know your intentions with my nephew."He said his face frozen and serious._

_I looked at him taken aback. What? I blinked trying to find my voice. What do I say? "I umm…umm what?" Clever Chloe, really clever._

"_I have assumed that Kit has talked to you on this matter before." William said his eyes keep glancing in the direction Derek would eventually reappear in. I fought off an involuntary urge to role my eyes. As I've said many times Kit had been worried from the beginning of our relationship from the get go. Telling us countless horror stories about Werewolves who had chosen human __**'companions'.**__ Talk about uncomfortable, having a supernatural sex talk with your new boyfriend's dad, who you had just met.__ "But what he has to tell you is second hand information. Even those who consider themselves Werewolf experts know little of our culture or our mindset. Miss Chloe, Wolves are more complex then you could ever imagine." I open my mouth ready to refute him when he held up a hand to stop me. "No matter how close you assume you are, it doesn't matter. Even you can sense Derek closed off nature, he hides more than he lets on. Our minds are our most fragile of muscles; deep within our consciousness, it is split in two. Part wolf, part man. Unless the wolf and man can merge, act, and think in harmony, there is no hope for a werewolf surviving for that long."_

_I had wanted to say he was wrong, that I knew Derek better than anyone. But I felt my throat constrict, that wasn't true. Derek had only told me about the voice in his head just a few days ago. I knew Werewolves were secretive; it was the main reason why they had survived for so long while other supernatural races had perished. I knew that if William was telling me anything that their people considered sensitive information, than he must trust me. But I also knew that resorting to this meant he was worried about Derek, probably as much as I was. _

"_The boy is my only living family. I will not lose him just because he could not express his true feelings. That would be quiet a wasteful end. Don't you think?"_

_I looked at him, nodding slowly. William opened his mouth to continue when his nose flared and he jerked his head behind him. He cursed and shook his head. "Not enough time." He looked down at me and then back where I could now see Derek's tall dark silhouette making its way back across the street. "Tomorrow, if all goes well," He hissed under his breath. "I want you to be weary. Derek still holds a grudge against the wizard boy, even if he doesn't admit it. His actions could become clouded. It will be your job to make sure he stays grounded in reality. He will not let me help; he will only see me as a threat."_

_And with that he sauntered off as if nothing had happened, Derek arrived shortly after looking a bit confused and starring after William as if he had overheard the entire thing. And, I may point out, was not the tiniest bit amused. _

"This Rest Stop looks as good as any." I jumped as Myrtle's voice pierced through my concentration, I looked over at her with her cell phone pressed to her ear. "Double back and rendezvous with us there." With a flick of her wrist, she shut the phone and instructed Jack to turn up ahead. She looked at me and smiled. "It shouldn't be too much longer."

"Yippie." I smiled trying to fake enthusiasm as much as possible.

….

"Myrtle?" I had to act as innocently as possible if this was going to work. A difficult task under the stern woman's deep gaze. I had come accustomed to playing a role every-day of my life for years now. Be the new girl, lie about your name and your past, and above all: Fit in. Rehearsing the day, reminding myself at all times to stay in character, seeing the cheesy un-dramatized movie play before my eyes minutes before it happened. It was hard now to even remember what I use to dream of being; a Screenwriter? Director? Or was it Actress? It didn't really matter now; I knew I would never have a real chance at chasing either dream. I had a much harder and important job at the moment. Play your role, and stay alive.

Today's job: Distract Myrtle Husht.

Myrtle looked up at me her stylish glasses anchored on the bridge of her nose. She had been digging in her purse for the past five minutes looking for something within the expensive Prada black hole. "Yes Dear?" She said friendly enough.

"I've been thinking..." I bit my lip trying to seem unsettled; it wasn't that hard to pretend. I really didn't want the answer to the question I was about to ask in the first place. "I was wondering...about the other day." Myrtle's eyes tightened slightly listening closely. "I've had a lot of time to think about the lesson you tried to give me a few days back and I have become rather consumed with something."

She looked around her as if she dropped something before straightening up and clearing her throat. "This is a conversation better said in private." She gestured to the small park connected to the rest stop. I screwed up my face trying to seem afraid of the dark surrounding the broken down swing set and monkey bars. "Don't worry; your bodyguard is only a shout away." She pointed to Derek who was leaning on Kit's van and starring at them suspiciously.

"Okay." As we made our way out of eavesdropping range, I chanced a look back and saw William and Jack starring as well. Looking once more at Derek, I winked to assure him I was fine before turning my compete attention to the task at hand. So far, so good. Once under a big tree that shadowed the swings, Myrtle turned back to face me. Actually was nervous, so I wasn't really pretending when I stuffed my hands in my front pockets and shuffled my feet, kicking a small stone a short distance away. I waited for her to say something first but she just stood there, expecting. Taking a deep breath I began reciting the words I had given myself to say. Act One: Bring up the elephant in the room.

"The old woman in the picture." I watched as Myrtle's face became even more contorted. "Who was she."

"She is none of your business, Ms. Saunders. You refused the task so she shouldn't matt-."

"No but she's important." I glared at her. If she thought that I was going to take No for an answer, she really didn't understand me at all. "I'm not stupid like you keep thinking I am. I can tell a lot from what you're not telling me. First you ask me to do a difficult task, calling a spirit from a great distance with only a picture and a personal artifact. A task that would be difficult for a normal Necromancer, restricted with their herbs, candles and voodoo. Not for me though, the tampered experiment, the out of control teenager, right? As a responsible adult your first 'test' for me would never be something this complicated. No matter how curious you are about my restrictions. Its personal then. The woman means something to you? Someone who has information you want—no need. But she's beyond your reach, none of your chanting and incense sessions have worked. Instead you try to use me. And if there is one thing I do not like, it's being _used._"

Myrlte watched me, the corner of her mouth slowing twitched into a smile. "Smart, Inturtive, Poweful, and Observent. My, my Chloe Saunders. I sure had you pegged wrong from the get go. You are the complete package. Go on, I'm listening."

"I may still seem like I'm new to this, but I'm not a rookie anymore." I smiled back at her, "I know the rules, even though I was never really taught them. It's more like common sense, if you ask me. And one of the biggest No-No's is calling back family. My mother died when I was young. I won't lie, discovering my strange gift had me under the assumption that I would finally have closure for her death. But I knew it was wrong...I could feel it."

I blinked feeling the old wound open, but quickly forcing it to the back of my mind, "I did eventually speak to her however." I put a hand to my chest, feeling my mother's amulet under the cloth. "It could have just been a dream. But...She helped me..." I took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to get at is that this old woman isn't just some poor soul you choose to challenge me. I can tell, under the mask you've made, that she means a lot more to you than that. She's part of your past, and you were hoping for closure too, because you're only human." I sighed. "And being a fellow necromancer, I just wanted to say I understand. I'm probably one of the few who will ever understand"

"Again, Brilliant. You are a prize, my Dear." She sighed. "She is my late mother." I watched her carefully, every word could be useful, and I needed all the ammunition I could get. "Not my Biological mother of course." She laughed, "I am old but nowhere near THAT old." Said the assumingly 70-year-old woman. To give her credit she looked as if she had enough plastic surgery done to look like the Barbie version of a 70-year-old, but still, I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. "My real mother died giving birth to me, I never knew her and to be honest I never really wanted to. If she loved me she wouldn't have risked hers and my young life with the drugs she took while she was pregnant. No my Mother came to me in the form of Marie Weese, my elderly Grandmother. But to me she will always simply be, 'mother'." The photo from before had appeared out of nowhere,and was clutched in her wrinkled and perfectly manicured hands.

I continued to watch her closely as she gazed on the ancient old woman in black and white. It was becoming harder and harder not to become lost in the pain that was now flowing from the old woman. "She died when I was sixteen, about the time when I discovered my gifts for the first tim...Of which we shared. The gift skips a generation in my family. It missed my 'real' mother and her siblings and instead was bestowed upon me. Oh how that thrilled her." For a moment, Husht's eyes were no longer that of an older woman, but of a wide-eyed girl filled with life and hope. "I never understood how she died...yes she was old after all, but I was never one to accept the obvious. She was dead, but they didn't look for anything suspicious. Old age. She was built of stronger stuff my Mother. And age never scarred her, nor did Ghosts. It was the living she feared. I wanted answers; I wanted someone to be punished for the crime. That has been my underling thought all these years." Her eyes peered over the photograph and bore into mine. "You are right; a Necromancer must never cross that line. Family is a thing too precious to be soiled with our tampering. Once you've called back a loved one's Ghost...It becomes more difficult to let them go again. And bad things happen when the Dead remain."

My chest tightened, suddenly slightly afraid of the vision of my mother. Had it been me the entire time? "But my mother..." I started to say but was stopped by Myrtle as she shook her head.

"I know what happened. Why she is there." She reached up and squeezed my shoulder, and for the first time she felt actually human. Her fake smile and her scheming eyes where hidden behind a veil and none of that mattered. "A Necromancer walks a dangerous road. And requires guidance. It is known that our gift requires an anchor within the spiritual world that also bridges to the living realm. It is not a proven fact, but there is a popular theory; A Spiritual guide that lives within us. Someone who had such an impact in our lives while they lived that even in Death they remain. It is a sad thing to admit but Death follows a Necromancer, and sadly affects those around them. Mothers, Fathers, Uncles, Cousins, Brothers and Sisters, No one is safe." She looked sadly back at the picture. "The Spiritual guide also explains why we cannot call back our loved ones. Our guide puts up that wall, protecting us from ourselves and abusing our powers."

I released a deep breath I didn't realize I had been holding. It did make sense. Believing that my mother had been with me this whole time...it was a warm and heart breaking feeling.

"Your Mother could be with you. And your heightened powers might be triggering that. I thought maybe, just maybe, you would be able to pull forth a guide. If it is true, I know my own watches over me. Always watching, teaching, and helping. If anyone could bring her from the astral plane. It would be you."

"You could have just asked me..."

I looked away. MY plan was backfiring on me. I hadn't planned on feeling bad for Myrtle. I planned on listing, and keeping her distracted. But it hurt. Why did it always hurt? Necromancy was a dark art, and I had come to accept that fact. But now...It seemed worthless. What use was this ability if the young necromancer hadn't been able to get a simple answer of why her mother died? I had the dreadful luxury of knowing the car accident that killed mine. However horrible it had been, it had been an accident that had taken my mother away. Living all these years without a sure answer, I knew would have driven me mad. I found myself wanting to help her now. But at the same time I knew that no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't. The line was an easy thing to cross, but the journey back was the hard thing.

"Just because I can do something," I said weakly, "doesn't mean I should."

The older woman rubbed her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup. She hadn't been crying but I could tell that she was exhausted from the long day traveling and the recent emotional toll. "Again wisdom I did not expect. And I know why." She took a deep breath. "I was expecting you to be more like me, my mother only had a few months to teach me what she knew, and for years after her death I struggled to understand everything she failed to. I expected to teach my granddaughter when her gift blossomed. I've brought five children into this world, and only one survived to have a family, and she only gave me one grandchild...And Jade it seemed failed to receive the my family's genetics...And then I found you. The want to have the relationship I once had with my Mother, my Teacher...it blinded my judgment." She sighed and put the picture back in her purse. "Well I can promise you something, if you allow me to teach what little you have left to learn, I won't underestimate you ever again."

It was kind of melodramatic that she finished her little speech just as William and Derek jumped out of the darkness and carefully as possible knocked her out. William had assured me that he knew what he was doing, having knocked a few heads in his time. She would've hit the ground if Derek hadn't caught her and gently laid her against the tree. It would have been cheesy to say so I only thought it, but she really shouldn't have underestimated me from the beginning. I reached down and checked her pulse, she was fine. My gut twisted in guilt I shouldn't have felt for this woman, twenty minutes ago I had not cared ganging up on her. She had been the corporate bitch, who wanted to imprison us and study us for the rest of our lives. Who wanted to train and hide me away from the world as her own personal weapom. But that was before I knew who that damn old lady was. And all my prior opinions on this woman seemed more like childish preception. I had to take a deep breath and remember what was at stake, hurting Myrtle was a necessity. A little bump on the back of the head was nothing; she was tough for an old lady, just like her Mother had been. She was made of stronger stuff.

…..

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS.**_

_**Omg an update? What sorcery is this? **_

_**Okay. Not much happens in this chapter. Sorry. Had to explain how they got away before I could do anything else. Actually cut a bunch out of this chapter because it just dragged on the escape too much, and I realized actually finding Simon was more important to the story. I'm a bit rusty when it comes to writing so if there are any blazing mistakes be free to call me out on it. **_

_**Hope to update again soon. Next chapter we get to New York and the search begins.**_

_**EDIT: did a few changes this morning, mistakes I missed and what not. **_

_**Review please and thank you.**_


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